Dispute concerns OT pay for chief

The auditor says the police chief was the only department head paid overtime.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Police Chief Bruce Simeone has been receiving overtime pay for holidays for a decade, says city Auditor Neil Buccino.
Department heads, however, are prohibited from receiving overtime pay, Law Director J. Terrence Dull said.
Buccino said Thursday that Simeone is the only department head who has received holiday pay at a time-and-a-half rate.
Simeone is paid $64,839 annually, Buccino said.
Discussion about an unnamed department head's being paid premium time for holidays surfaced Wednesday during a meeting of city council's finance and utilities committees.
"Someone brought it to our attention. We looked into it and it was there," Buccino said.
It appears the overtime payments have been going on since 1997, Buccino said.
Simeone, who has been chief since 1996, referred questions to his attorney, J.P. Morgan of Warren.
"I just can't believe it's turned into this," the chief said.
Claims precedent
Morgan said Thursday that there is precedent for the Niles police chief to receive holiday pay that goes back to Simeone's predecessor, John Ross. "It was past practice that just carried through," Morgan said.
Morgan explained that a 1988 city ordinance excluded all salaried workers from receiving holiday pay, but that was modified in 1992 to exclude the police and fire chiefs -- so they could receive premium pay.
The attorney also claimed there is an ordinance that entitles the police chief to receive the same benefits that union employees in the department receive.
"He certainly is entitled to it. I think the city jumped the gun a little bit," Morgan said.
Dull said officials are checking to determine whether Ross was paid overtime for holidays.
The law director said that he, Mayor Ralph A. Infante and Buccino will meet in the next day or two to discuss how to approach reimbursement to the city.
Normally, he explained, an employee would repay the city, but he doesn't know whether Simeone will offer a defense.
If the city decides that Simeone should repay the city, it can only go back six years because of the statute of limitations, Dull said.
It hasn't been determined how much Simeone has been paid in overtime, Buccino said.
Last request
He explained that Simeone last submitted for overtime for working Good Friday. It wasn't paid because he wasn't entitled to it, Buccino added.
"I told him he wasn't going to get paid," Buccino said. He noted that the chief responded that he had worked the holiday.
The auditor said the chief is not entitled to the holiday pay "regardless of if he worked it or not."
Buccino said that he has checked the records of all the city department heads and that Simeone is the only one that has been paid overtime.
The auditor explained that Simeone, like other department heads, submits the department payroll that notes items that influence pay such as overtime worked, sick and vacation days.
The auditor's office issues the checks once the payroll is approved by the commission, Buccino said -- adding that the chief's being paid slipped past someone.