CALUMET CITY | The agreement city officials reached in October with the union representing their firefighters has saved more than $100,000.

City government was able to save $106,885.48 between October and Dec. 31 through the agreement with Firefighters Local 621. That agreement consisted of measures such as working some overtime at regular pay, early retirement of certain veteran officials and delays in promotions for some officers.

That figure was provided in a memorandum written by Fire Department Deputy Chief Richard Banske to Mayor Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush.

That same memo states that had city officials cut Fire Department expenses through layoffs, the savings would have been only $99,850.95.

The memo -- dated Jan. 4 and included in a series of letters and other documents accepted publicly Thursday by the City Council -- is a monthly update provided by the Fire Department to city officials to provide a sense of how well its cost-saving measures are working. Banske wrote that during December, savings to the city totalled $30,666.98, compared to the $39,940.38 that would have been saved through layoffs.

As of Dec. 31, firefighters covered by the union contract with the city had worked 792 hours of overtime at a regular pay rate. Under the agreement that saved the Fire Department from experiencing layoffs, the union still owes city government another 408 hours of overtime at a regular pay rate.

The agreement affected only the Fire Department. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 1, which represents Calumet City police officers, has yet to reach a cost-savings agreement with the city, although Qualkinbush said Thursday talks continue.

In a separate measure, the City Council voted 7-0 to approve terms by which a grant to the Fire Department from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be altered.

That grant of $600,000 was helping to pay salaries of certain Fire Department staffers. Three retirements in October threatened the eligibility of the city to obtain the grant because it put staffing under required levels.

Under the deal negotiated with FEMA, the city will lose about $20,700 -- a 15th payment will be cut by 15 percent and a 16th and final payment will not be made. Those will be the only cuts, Fire Chief William Galgan said, provided there are not additional cuts in the Fire Department staffing level.