The city of Augusta paid its employees nearly $3 million in overtime last year, and no one blinked an eye.
It was 22 percent less than in 2008.
The city shells out millions in overtime every year, and officials say that's the way it has to be.
But others, including at least one Augusta commissioner, wonder whether overtime isn't a red flag calling attention to public sector inefficiency, and a recent time clock scandal at the Augusta Utilities Department raised more than a few eyebrows.
Defenders point out that public safety employees are bound to rack up significant amounts of overtime just doing their round-the-clock jobs.
Fair enough, says Commissioner Joe Bowles, but should taxpayers foot the bill for overtime at the Transit Department and county landfill?
Law enforcement, fire department and emergency telephone personnel accrued the most overtime wages, adding $1.58 million to their regular salaries in 2009, according to finance department records.
Utilities workers clocked extra hours that added up to $912,601 in overtime wages.
It was at the department's Highland Avenue water treatment plant that six employees were punished or fired for clocking in hours last year that they did not work.
Water treatment staffers earned $308,547 for overtime in 2009.
Utilities Director Tom Wiedmeier, who took over at the department in December, said paying overtime likely saved the department money.
"With a department where you have to respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there is always going to be overtime," he said.
"If you were to staff up so much that you didn't incur any overtime, your costs would be so much higher."
Augusta Public Transit allowed staff to accrue about $422,135 in overtime pay, nearly three times its budgeted amount. Transit Director Heyward Johnson has been out on sick leave since last summer, and interim Director Sharon Dottery could not be reached for comment.
City Administrator Fred Russell said he was unfamiliar with the exact situation at the transit department.
"I'm not too sure that's a lot of overtime," he said. "It's the gamble that you take between hiring full-time people versus paying people overtime. With CDL (commercial driver's license) drivers, you just can't go out and hire a lot of part-time people."
The Augusta Fire Department did hire more firefighters, Russell said. Fire-suppression staff earned $928,866 in overtime pay, about $330,000 more than budgeted for the department.
Solid waste disposal at the county landfill incurred $146,060 in overtime.
Waste Management Director Mark Johnson said the department was short several personnel and took on additional work. A "wet" year also required extra landfill preparation.
Though overtime was up, regular wages were $485,000 under budget, Johnson said.
Augusta Regional Airport Director Gary LeTellier, who is new in his position, attributed $167,595 in 2009 overtime pay to unscheduled events.
"There are certain minimum manning requirements for our police and fire departments," he said. "Or, if you've got some sort of event that calls for an immediate maintenance solution. It can't wait; it has to be done right then."
Though the department plans for large events such as the Masters Tournament, unforeseen events must be sufficiently staffed according to Federal Aviation Administration regulations, he said.
But if the shortage "becomes a habit, then you've got to go readdress the policy," he said.
Overall, overtime for the city was down from nearly $3.6 million in 2008, while non-overtime wages and salaries increased.
Wages and salaries totaled $92,628,690, excluding overtime, in 2009. In 2008, they were $90,776,840.
The city, which has had a hiring freeze in effect for half a year, had 2,861 employees at the end of 2009.
Augusta is not alone in budgeting and paying for large amounts of overtime.
Macon, Ga., paid about $2.1 million in overtime last year, including $1.6 million for public safety personnel, Finance Director Tom Barber said.
In Savannah, Ga., overtime was more than $5.3 million, according to a spokeswoman.
The Aiken County government, which employs 850, paid out $350,000 in overtime last year, Administrator Clay Killian said.
"We do everything we can do to avoid it," he said.
Aiken County tries to give employees time-and-a-half off, when possible, to save overtime pay, he said.
Not everyone in Augusta's government is satisfied with the amount of overtime paid.
"I see that as a problem when you're not dealing with public safety," Bowles said. "If it was in the corporate world, it would not be tolerated."
The CPA said his former employer, Paine College, rarely had any of its 250 employees accrue overtime.
Bowles, an advocate for privatizing Augusta Public Transit and Augusta Municipal Golf Course, said a private firm could keep city overtime under control.
Employees at the golf course, known as "the Patch," accrued little overtime last year, but the course operated at a $157,000 loss. That loss would be covered for 17 years with the amount Augusta paid last year in overtime.
Bowles said he suspected that abuses such as those caught at the water treatment plant might be more widespread and might contribute to increased overtime costs.
The city investigation looked only at a two-week period last year. Two employees were fired for clocking in 40 hours they hadn't worked during the period.
Commissioner Jerry Brigham, an accountant, was surprised at some of the overtime numbers, other than those at the fire department.
"I know they've been short firemen," he said.
"Supposedly, they hadn't hired enough people."
Brigham said the city had "started to make some efforts" to control overtime wages.
Get em Joe! The solution is right in front of them!
All they have to do is tell the department heads they will face disciplinary action if overtime isn't controlled up to termination. That is how we tell our managers in the private sector and they solve the problem. If the managers in the city depts can't solve such a easy problem maybe we need new managers. I was part of a reorganization where workers in the past would swap out schedules so each week they got overtime. So firemen probably work 7 days get a much of overtime by covering for another guy then give him some of their days next week so he get a bunch of overtime. It is a pretty simple racket if managers don't control it. The employee works less and makes more money. You can work 2 days at overtime and make the same as 3 days of straight pay.
Interesting how they were "punished" or "terminated". Clocking hours and not working them is theft! You are stealing tax payer funds. Only one option: TERMINATE! In addition, in the private sector, a manager steps in and works extra hours to pick up the slack since they are salaried and not hourly. Make the lazy bums work...or fire them.
They don't have to justify it and therfore it is and will continue to be a problem. It's taxpayers money and most think it is unlimited. The arrogance and disconnect from most politicians (not all) and many hired goverment employees such as county administrators and department heads is pathetic. This and many other situations like it show just how government thinks completely opposite of any small business owner or privately help company. They could care less what their customers think (the voter) and could care less how much they charge (raise taxes) as long as they get what they think we need. Enough already - Glad to see a few commissoners are finally waking up and hopefully they will beging to hold employees at all levels acountable for their actions. Sure, Public Safety will rack up overtime at times but part of that problem is that the department is understaffed to begin with which is because they are underfunded and the employees are underpaid compared to all other area public safety agencies. Most other jobs within our county government have comparable salaries to their counter parts in neighboring counties but not our Sheriff's Office nor our Fire Department. Properly hire and staff with proper salaries and the majority of overtime should cease to exsist. As for many events such as parades, special activity permits, etc. - The Sheriff's Office, Fire Department and EMS should all bill accordingly to cover all expenses of such events without having the taxpayers foot the bill.
I agree with you Asitis. Why don't the commissioners enforce mandatory limited comp time, instead of overtime wages, for certain departments? Does the ot have to be approved ahead of time by the supervisors?
This is what happens when you don't adequately staff critical needs positions. You don't like paying overtime? Call your commissioner and demand that the fire chief and police department be allowed to hire more people. See how that's received. Because hiring police and firefighters isn't just a matter of filling out an application. They have to be sent to the acadamy and become certified, and that costs money that RC doesn't have.
It is standard business procedure that for non-revenue producing positions, you staff at normal levels and pay overtime.
Mandatory comp time? They are short-staffed as it is. When does a police or fire station close? What happens when you give mandatory comp time and then an emergency happens?
You don't like paying water department workers overtime? Try living without water, and you will soon be demanding that they pay overtime to come fix the broken water main.
Don't forget, when you hire somebody, your costs go up. Benefits. HR. Supervisory. Payroll. Accounting. Insurance. In the long run, it's cheaper to pay overtime.
Better management would fix the problem. plain and simple. The real problem is they want us to think it has to be like this. As a business owner I can tell you that is untrue. Proper planning is what is needed.
Rampant Mismanagement in Dysfunction Junction. SOP Same old news. All Aboooard!!!! Next stop the Deke Coperhaver-Boardman Stadium and Multi-Use Entertainment Center at the Golf and Gardens Museum. Thank heavens for Uncle Joe!!!!!
Ignorance and Apathy are thy parents Augusta. "I wish I was in the land of cotton, Ole times in Augusta are always rotten; Move away, move away, move away, citizens.
"Overtime in the "corporate world" (Fortune 500 World) of which Uncle Joe is so familiar is not always bad. Hiring new employees requires many additional cost, not to mention waiting for the "job learning curve, and the need for more "administrators/managers who don't produce a dime". Maintaining the same number of "managers" is a major cost saving in itself. Employees at the top of the "learning curve" performing critical jobs outweighs the overtime. Critical jobs is the key word. Less experienced, new employees, will take longer to do a job. A lot of overtime is spent on reliving for vacation, illness and other days off from work. TEMPORARY contract labor for "non critical work is the best option if you want to reduce permanent employees hours. But then you have "unhappy permanent employees. Most of who need "overtime" to pay their bills. Try a course in "corporate management" Uncle Joe. There is a "real world" where some people have to actually "do manual labor" and shift work and not sit in an office and shuffle papers. Overtime is a necessity in a 24/7/365 operation. Management complains about it, most workers delight in overtime. New hires mandate more benefit packages, federal red tape and lots more H.R. personnel. "Focus on the work DONE". MANHOURS MANHOURS Bottom Line Cost.
I wish Mr. Bowles was as comcerned with our having a transparent budget. But then we would see just how much we waste on the commissioners for meetings, in Texas fo instance.
Corgi. I am not sure you are correct about "comp time". Under the old administration the DOL looked the other way when problems with Comp time vs. overtime reared its head. Unfortunately the law is pretty clear that employeers can't just decide C0omp time is the way to go. I know the champion of all workers, the Chamber of Communists" is all for comp time. Funny they never did come out with a position on CEO pay.
Bottom line is if it was a problem, we would have a budget for citizens to read, that would show what the problem is. Our secretive budget means no problem.
COMP TIME as is done in every private organization. That will work in every single department. Dissman, what law says you can't use comp time for compensation if you keep the weekly hours 40 and below. It says right in the article that Aiken County does it.
I almost forgot. Where was Joe when the commission started passing out money to non-profits? Those are the private clubs that receieve funding routinely from the commission. Where is his outrage over this funding which is not critical to the daily operation of rivercity? I would venture that he dosen't even know, nor has ever seen, what the salary structure is for these little favorites of the "stakeholders". Amazing, he allows the illegal executive director (supervises no one) of one of our Stakeholder clubs to earn over 80.000 a year, without a complaint. When are we going to have a budget we can all review for expenditures by every body getting money from the tax rolls. We may even learn about the realestate office we subsidize in the middle of broad street. But I doubt we will ever have that kind of transparency because it is so much easier to complain about water works people working in zero degree weather, at 6:00 A.M. to get our water problems fixed.
This is typical of government and union workers. They drag around so the job will require overtime. The management does not have the guts to stand up to them. A good example is TSA workers at the air ports. There is so many they are getting in one another’s way but they don’t mind making the customers wait. Again this is typical of government and union workers. I was a union member for almost 20 years and I saw with my own eyes. I was ashamed to admit I was a union member. I got out at the first the chance.
Budgeting for some overtime for emergencies is accepted practice. Exceeding that budget by 1/3 or more, and in the case of Transit by 3 times their budget probably needs to be looked at for fraud and abuse. No department head with half of a brain could possibly be off in his staffing and overtime calculations by x3. If this was done through neglect, the department head needs to be fired. If it was done intentionally to hide the real cost of the department from the commission or the taxpayer then someone needs to be prosecuted for fraud. At any rate, I believe the recent time card abuse at the water treatment plant is probably indicative of what is happening to a lot of the salary money and maybe a reason why we need so much overtime. Nice gig. Pay someone who wasn't there but was clocked in by his buddy and then turn around and pay them overtime to come in and do the work they didn't do while we were paying them thier regular salary. I doubt seriously this practice is confined to one water treatment plant or even to just the utilities department. It is nice to know that our county employees and our county department heads are a perfect match to our county commission and county administrator. At least we got a matching set. They all fall into one of two categories and some fall into both. They are either stealing from us or mismanaging our tax dollars. And there does not seem to be any accountability all the way up the chain and we are too stupid to hold anyone accountable at the voting booth. And dissman, don't even get me started on handing out our taxpayer dollars to non-profits. Just another way to take taxpayer money and give it to some connected private citizens who draw very nice salaries out of the "non-profit" organization and spend the leftover scraps on some questionably "worthy" cause.
Where I used to work we had to include some sort of an estimate in our budget to include possible overtime. We were required to monitor the overtime budget and contact the budget office if overtime was getting out of hand.
To solve the overtime budget problem we moved people around so there were people on duty 24/7. You would be surprised at how much money was saved by not having to pay time and a half and had people in place to handle the emergencies in real time instead of calling in people to work.
That would not work in Augusta, though, because people want to work 9-5 with their nights and weekends off. They need to get over that selfish attitude and appreciate their job more. All the employees in ARC are spoiled pigs at the trough. It seems like they create overtime just to have a fat paycheck. Why can't we get some supervisiors who can control a budget? It ain't rocket science.
dichotomy.........You need to be mayor. You are certainly smarter than Fred Russell. While you are at cutting out the gross overtime, sort out all the family members and get them off the payroll also. There is no reason why several family members are on the same county payroll. Wasn't that supposed to stop when Charles Walker and Robin Williams went to jail.
JOKE.....What is a company picnic called in county politics? A FAMILY REUNION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Perhaps Joe Bowles would like to shut down the routes/buses when there aren"t enough drivers to drive. One thing about transit is that when they are on overtime, they are driving buses, not just hanging out! Joe Bowles knows absolutely nothing about running a transit or driving a transit bus, so please stop trying to drive from the commission chambers. When routes are shut down for not having drivers he gripes..when drivers are driving the routes, he's still fussing! Your choice is: The buses will either run or not! What's your pleasure?
If the greedy employees would refuse to work overtime, the city would have to hire more employees and contribute to some family's well being. We have too many people out of work that need a job, so refuse the overtime and help out a family in need.
Dicotomy. Don't forget these department heads have been working under a hiring freeze, but no one reduced their work load. When you have enough work for 20 people but you only are allowed to hire 10, guess what, either something gets done in overtime or it dosen't get done. And in the case of waterworks or land fill, or roads and bridges, etc etc etc. not doing something could be disasterous. The real question is how many special assistants do we have? And even better how much do we spend for contract oversight and compliance even though we have some well paid deputy directors. But until we as taxpayers are provided detailed budget numbers (what,where who, when) we will always have plenty for the "stakeholders" but not much else. I wonder just how much we have spent and will spend for the Masters? That is our great attraction that 99.999% of Augustans have never seen nor will they ever see it but we spend loads of money for it every year.
I can tell when I drive downtown that the folks that fix potholes are definitely not working overtime.
Keep up the good work Joe. Don't settle for the status quo. There is no accountability in government and they think they have an unlimited budget funded by the taxpayers.
A muncipality is nothing like a private business. Critical public service jobs, that require special training and special certification have to have overtime. They require mandatory coverage, and the fire department and police department are short staffed as it is.
Keeping a police officer or a firefighter to a 40 hour workweek is laughable. I can just see a police officer telling a judge, when he's subpoenad or requested to come to court, "I'm on comp time, Judge, sorry, no can do."
I can see a firefighter saying, "Hey, I'm the one that's trained to drive the truck, but hey, I'm on comp time. Get someone else to do it. You need 5 people to staff the station because of insurance reasons and liability reasons? Sorry, I've already worked 38 hours this week, find somebody else."
The same people that want to talk about how they do it in a private business are the same ones that want a school to run like a business. Muncipalities and schools are NOT businesses. Never have been, never will be, can't be run the same way.
The problem is that when you give comp time, the work load doesn't take a day off; all that happens is that the work doesn't get done, or other employees get stuck with doing it on top of their jobs, too, meaning it doesn't get done. One person can only do the work of one person. 40 hours of work can't be done in 32. It starts an endless cycle that never is successful.
I find the headline a little bogus. What employee is authorized to just use overtime at their discretion? I believe hourly workers are directed to overtime use by higher paid managers that are probably on salary. So given this, how do "Employees rack up hefty overtime bill"?
City employees are not allowed to work overtime just because they want to. Sometimes overtime is incurred for special events that benefit the community, emergencies such as storm damage, work outside normal hours for maintenance crews when work during business hours would cost more due to disruptions in operations. A blanket charge that all overtime should be eliminated is simply ignorant.
Most corporations will use overtime before hiring new employees until the work load can justify the incremental cost of another full time employee. Comp time is not a magic bullet. Sure it appears to reduce overtime, but it is simply a deferred cost. You still have to pay the employee when they take the comp time. If an employee acrrues comp time at the same rate as OT for anything over 40, you are still effectively paying time and a half when they cash in the hours.
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