Agencies fork out $3m extra from a year ago The four Montgomery County agencies that spend the most on overtime pay shelled out 26 percent more in the last three months of the fiscal year than during the same period last year, data shows — defying the County Council’s request that departments reduce overtime spending as they looked for ways to save money in a tight budget year.
In the last quarter of the fiscal year that ended June 30, the agencies that consistently spend the vast majority of the county’s overtime costs — Fire and Rescue Services, the Police Department, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Corrections — increased the spending by about $3 million from the same time last year, according to a report by County Stat.
| Top 10 spenders | ||
| April 1-June 30 | ||
| Department | Overtime | |
| Fire and Rescue Services | $4,662,492.17 | |
| Police Department | $3,446,321.56 | |
| Department of Transportation | $2,177,288.87 | |
| Department of Correction and Rehabilitation | $1,147,116.33 | |
| Department of General Services | $287,926.38 | |
| Department of Liquor Control | $139,604.01 | |
| Health and Human Services | $69,001.33 | |
| Department of Environmental Protection | $35,986.44 | |
| Department of Housing and Community Affairs | $17,447.33 | |
| Sheriff’s Office | $15,515.35 | |
During those three months, the departments shelled out $11.4 million in overtime pay — 94 percent of total overtime and about $3 million more than the $8.5 million spent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, the report shows. Overtime costs accounted for 2.4 percent of overall wages in fiscal 2011.
County Stat Manager Chris Cihlar said the data might not include the overtime transportation employees and the police received from working during the U.S. Open.
As the council looked to slash almost $1 billion in spending, it asked county agencies to cut overtime pay, said Councilwoman Nancy Navarro, D-Eastern County. Navarro, who heads the council’s Goverment Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee, said she was surprised to learn that overtime had increased.
“We’re going through an economic crisis,” she said. “You cannot do this long term.”
Understaffing led to the increased overtime payments, department chiefs said.
“It’s a matter of public safety,” Fire Chief Richard Bowers said, adding his department is severely understaffed. Employees have been retiring and leaving the department for other reasons, but he hasn’t had the budget to bring in new recruits.
Although “sometimes it’s more cost effective to pay overtime than it is to hire full-time salary people, there’s a point where in the long term it is more cost-effective to have a body in a full-time position in place,” Bowers said.
The county asked the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation to hold some positions vacant for six months while workers were transferred from other, downsized agencies, Director Art Wallenstein said. Combined with factors such as staff training, retirements and paid leave, the department resorted to overtime.
“We certainly don’t let the inmates watch each other,” he said.
Police Chief Thomas Manger said putting extra officers in Silver Spring as a result of increased crime there is causing the spike in his department’s overtime pay. However, the 911 call center and police officers’ court appearances make up most of his overtime costs.
The Department of Transportation has to pay employees overtime to complete projects that they can’t work on during the day — like upgrading traffic signals, said Deputy Director Al Roshdieh.
