43
campbell Officials work out OT issue on paper
By jeanne starmack
campbell
City administrators are able to fix a budget problem with overtime in the police department — at least, on paper.
The city’s finance director says he will be able to transfer $50,000 to cover overtime costs that were already over 110 percent of this year’s allocation by August.
The city had appropriated $25,000 for the year for police overtime, but by the end of July had spent $27,000.
The transfer will address the problem of balancing the budget, said finance director Michael Evanson.
That will satisfy a state commission that oversees the city while it is in fiscal emergency, a status it’s had since 2004.
But, Evanson said, it will not address the issue of too much overtime. That, he pointed out, is something administrators have to manage.
Administrators have said they have a hard time controlling overtime because they cannot predict sick leaves and call-offs.
Council President George Levendis told the oversight commission at its August meeting that even though the police department uses part-time officers, the police union contract requires that full-time officers be offered overtime first.
Evanson said he will transfer $50,000 from the police regular wages account in the general fund to the police overtime account.
He said he will charge the $50,000 back to the safety forces levy account.
He said council does not have to approve the transfer because it is within police department accounts. Nonetheless, he intends to present it for approval at Wednesday’s meeting, he said.
“I’m not hiding behind a technicality,” he said. “I want them to clearly understand the decisions they’re making.”
Council will have its first regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday after a two-month summer break.
Evanson said he intends to present the account transfer to the oversight commission at its October meeting.