County pays $1.5M in overtime
By Diana Royal dianar@thetruecitizen.com

Taxpayers forked out nearly $1.5 million last year to pay county employees' overtime.

In fact, the nearly 79,000 hours came with a $1,486,875.34 price tag, and some employees' overtime added up to be a full salary in itself.

Employees of the sheriff's office, county jail, fire department and EMA put in the most overtime hours, but their bosses say it's simply unavoidable.

"I am a taxpayer, too," Sheriff Greg Coursey said, adding that he doesn't like paying taxes any more than anyone else. "But if we're going to offer our services, have good schools, etc., some things are necessary … believe me, if there were a way I could do away with overtime and save money, I would."

According to an overtime report obtained from the county administrator's office, head jailer Major John Bush clocked 1,521.75 overtime hours in fiscal year 2007, which resulted in an extra $41,802.85.

Sheriff Coursey guaranteed those were all working hours while detailing some of Major Bush's work responsibilities. In addition to regular work week duties, Major Bush coordinates visitation each Saturday and Sunday and is responsible for transporting inmates to and from the courthouse for hearings.

"He does a good job," Sheriff Coursey said, adding that other counties had really footed the bill for the extra hours. "(His work efforts) prevent our jail from being overcrowded," he explained, and because of that, surrounding counties paid Burke County $60,000 last year for housing their inmates.

As of last month, Major Bush had already accumulated more than $11,000 in overtime for the year.

EMA Chief Rusty Sanders blames vacancies in his department for the overload.

While he did not wish to comment further on the issue, Chief Sanders did say his employees do not become eligible for overtime until they reach 53 hours in a week. The employees work on a three-shift rotation and cover 12 stations throughout the county 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he said.

Sheriff Coursey shared that sentiment. He said the sheriff's office is operating with seven less employees than usual, with some currently serving in the National Guard.

"The ones that want overtime work for it," he surmised. "It still doesn't count the phone calls they have to answer at night or the hours they never log ... nobody gets special treatment."

He also speculated that if the county were to hire additional employees, it might pay out even more after benefits were added.

County administrator Merv Waldrop confirmed that in most cases overtime is less expensive than an additional employee, especially if the duration and amount of overtime is small or just for a short period of time.

"However, if the overtime is chronic, then it may warrant putting more employees on the payroll," he said, adding that some overtime is unavoidable given the nature of the shifts in regards to the 24-hour services provided by the sheriff's office, jail and EMA. "There is some overtime built into the system, but there is room for improvement in the way we handle overtime. It should be looked into on a department by department level to see if there is justification to add another employee that would eliminate the need for some of the overtime."

For fiscal year 2007, Sheriff Coursey and Chief Sanders' offices combined to make up well over half of the county's overtime.

TOTAL OVERTIME FOR 2007: $1,486.875.34

Employees earning more than $15,000: