The Columbus City Council voted Tuesday night to give preliminary approval to an amendment to the 2017 Salary Ordinance increasing the overtime budgets for the city’s police and fire departments by a combined $70,000. The proposal calls for an additional $40,000 for fire department overtime and $30,000 for police department overtime. City officials say that about half of that amount is directly to three visits to the city this year by Vice-President Mike Pence.

Jamie Brinegar, the city’s director of finance operations and risk, stresses that the change increase in overtime funds is being covered by personnel funds already allocated to each department for this year. He adds that this is merely a transfer of funds and not an additional appropriation.

Brinegar also apologized to the council for the way the ordinance was worded. He says it was “misleading in that it only identifies overtime costs related to the Vice President’s visits” as the need for the increases. During this week’s city council meeting, Brinegar says that that there are many other reasons for the proposed increase. They include the need is to cover for the unexpected retirement of four firefighters, as well as time spent by three others who were on military training leave. For the police department, Brinegar explained that the majority of the need is to cover overtime related to comp time earned by officers throughout the year. He says that a number of officers chose to “cash-in” that comp time and be paid instead of taking time off.

Mayor Jim Lienhoop says that the city made inquiries to the federal government about the possibility of being reimbursed for some portion of the expenses incurred when Pence visits, but that is not a possibility. In a statement from city hall, the administration says, “The City of Columbus is proud that our native son is serving as Vice President of the United States of America and are pleased to be able to participate in some small way to his service to our country.”