Paying the price for public safety

As departments combine to go $800,000 over budget in 2007, Aurora police and fire officials say OT is unavoidable

AURORA -- Overtime pay claimed by the city's first responders increased by $1.4 million in 2007, while overspending the budget by $818,000, city records show.

In 2007, overtime spending approached $5.9 million for police and almost $2 million for the Fire Department, the records indicate.

Police Chief Greg Thomas and Fire Chief Tim Oelker, in separate interviews, said overtime is largely unavoidable and isn't just about working long days. Contractual obligations, the nature of public safety work and department turnover also are factors. Hiring more cops and firefighters, a popular suggestion, would actually boost expenses.

Both point out the overtime expenses shown in city documents do not reflect reimbursements -- paid to the city by outside agencies or businesses -- for the extra time because that money is paid into a different account.

"We always have to be good stewards of the money," Thomas said in an interview prior to his promotion to chief last week. "Hopefully the citizens feel they're getting their bang for the buck."

Overtime budget estimates for 2008 were submitted long before the city acknowledged financial difficulties tied to shrinking gaming tax money and an overall slow economy, and both departments are now working with new contracts that seemingly guarantee them to go over budget again.

"The city has deferred a number of projects to ensure it can continue to cover operating expense," assistant chief of staff Carie Anne Ergo said. "The safety of our residents is Mayor Weisner's top priority. Public safety management staff review overtime requests and grant overtime when situations arise where it is necessary to protect the health and welfare of our citizens."

So, how does it work? For extra police shifts, a computer program runs through a list that considers availability, division and seniority to determine who is offered the OT. Firefighters Union Local 99 maintains a master list that doles out OT for privates and lieutenants roughly on the same criteria. Officials point out that overtime comes in several other forms as well.

While the extra time benefits residents, payroll reports indicate those efforts translate to big paydays for some. Three police officers took home more than $50,000 in overtime pay. On the fire side, at least 36 firefighters -- mostly mid-level supervisors -- picked up at least $10,000 in overtime pay.

"It's the cost of doing business. We have to be there if they call," Oelker said.

During a recent interview, Thomas offered at least seven different scenarios that lead to overtime. They are:

• Working more than eight hours on a shift

• Attending court

• Targeted details for things such as DUI or burglaries

• Training and meetings

• On-call officers (evidence technicians, detectives) available any time

• "Reporting" pay, given to officers for attending a mandatory 20-minute pre-shift meeting

• Officers scheduled to reach "full shift" status

Court appearances alone accounted for 16,246 hours of regular and overtime.

"It's an inevitable thing. There's no way to fix it," Thomas said of officers attending hearings.

The close to 20,000 training hours, which prompt overtime, is a sign of a top-notch department and a trend across the provision, Thomas said.

"Training is very important to us," he explained.

Those are just two instances where additional officers would not diminish overtime costs. It's unclear why police did not up their overtime budget request for 2008 with a new contract likely on the horizon. Thomas expected adjustments would be needed for 2009, for which the budgeting process began in late March.

As to individual officers, patrolmen Shireen Long and Christopher Bekielewski and investigator Robert Myint occupied the top three spots on the OT list for the second consecutive year. Long, an 18-year department veteran with a base salary of $75,046, led the way with $68,812 in overtime last year.

Aurora's median household income is $56,566, according to a 2006 U.S. Census Bureau estimate.

Long's total pay of $144,984 ranked third in the department behind now-retired Chief Bill Powell ($160,467) and recently appointed Thomas ($149,577). Bekielewski and Myint were fourth and fifth.

"Why those three, I'm not exactly sure," Thomas said, referring to the list. "It's their choice. Everyone can make themselves available."

Long is field-training officer, which could involve overtime, officials said. Working in investigations, Myint is also eligible for extra patrol shifts.

The officers did not respond to an interview request made through a police spokesman.

In the fire world, there is always concern over manpower costs, Oelker said. The March issue of Fire Chief magazine includes a lengthy article on whether scheduling more employees makes sense or if it's better to tack on firefighters as needed to handle workloads, illness and other factors that put departments below minimum staffing levels.

"No one is ever extra," Deputy Fire Chief Hal Carlson said while talking about "rovers" used by Aurora to fill out shifts.

Similar to police, fire overtime has a lot to do with training, covering 48-hour shifts across the city's nine stations and special assignments. Oelker noted an "inordinate" amount of sick and injury time used in 2007, prompting overtime, that might be attributed to an aging department.

"I've never seen anything like it," he offered. "In a perfect world, if no one got sick, those numbers would be lower."

Because overtime is optional, fire officials do not track who's getting what and note it varies by division depending on the need. Last year, one-third of short shifts came from the lieutenant level.

Overall, officials stress overtime expenses are "not peculiar" to Aurora. The $1.9 million spent in 2007 would equate to six firefighters, two for each shift, but would not make much of a difference, the chief explained.

Fire officials reported a 6 percent increase in total calls, although there were slightly fewer responses to automatic fire alarms and structure fires, according to the department's annual report. Ambulance runs make up a large portion of calls.

Because there are more fire privates than other ranks, they don't crack the fire department's top OT earners. That list has been dominated over the last two years by lieutenants and captains.

Lt. Richard Lockman added $23,817 in overtime to his base salary of $83,469. Battalion Chief Donald Davids and Lt. Steve Oros Jr. rank second and third, respectively. Davids was 2006's OT pay leader.

"It's not gravy," Assistant Fire Chief John Lehman said.

Oelker said Davids, among other activities related to his hazardous materials expertise, is involved with state-level committees that contribute to overtime.

None of the Fire Department's top OT earners could be reached for comment.

As for budgeting, Oelker said it's an educated guess.

"Since we can't predict the future, you look at the past," he said. "We don't want to overstress the budget. ... We are stewards of the taxpayers' money; we take that very seriously."

Oelker expects the 2009 budget for all overtime to grow because of, among other things, new contracts with higher salaries for privates and lieutenants. The recently approved contract with fire officers increased their OT rate by reducing the number of base hours used to figure it.

Added Ergo, "Public safety overtime is not an exact science. Many factors, such as changes in the community or personnel issues, may cause it to vary significantly from year to year."