Overtime adds up for many Green Bay city employees -------------------------------------------------- 7:07 PM, Sep 1, 2012 by Scott Cooper Williams http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20120902/GPG0101/309020184/Overtime-adds-up-many-Green-Bay-city-employees- City overtime budget: 2012 o Police: $1,229,560 o Fire: $590,090 o Public Works: $400,000 o Other: $122,210 o Total: $2,341,860 For many people, $30,000 is a full years salary. For some Green Bay city employees, it is just their overtime pay. At a time when the city is targeting overtime pay as a way of helping to eliminate a $700,000 budget deficit, some in city government say overtime is a necessity to maintain essential services. City records show that six employees last year collected more than $20,000 in overtime, including two who added more than $30,000 to their pay. The biggest overtime earner was Danny Truckey, a battalion chief in the fire department. Overtime pay boosted Truckeys salary by $33,000, from $78,654 to $112,198. Truckey declined to comment, but Interim Fire Chief Mike Nieft said Truckey handles a lot of firefighter training and took on added responsibilities last year when another training officer resigned unexpectedly. Because firefighters work different shifts, Truckey often must juggle his schedule to accommodate them, Nieft said. He earns the money, the chief said. He deserves it. Mayor Jim Schmitt, however, said the fact that some employees can accumulate thousands of dollars in overtime points to a need to get those costs under control. Schmitt said he is convinced the city can save money by adjusting work schedules, planning training differently, or taking other steps. We have to manage this better, he said. The city spent $2.2 million on employee overtime in 2011 mostly in the police and fire departments and budgeted $2.3 million for it this year. About one-fourth comes from the Green Bay Packers, who reimburse the city for providing police and fire protection during games at Lambeau Field. Police employees account for most of the top overtime salaries, including police officer Michael Francois, who collected $30,000, increasing his earnings in 2011 from $66,692 to $97,361. Francois could not be reached for comment. Acting Police Chief Paul Molitor said Francois logged many overtime hours doing security at Packers games. Other big overtime salaries involve officers who performed such special duties as drunken driving crackdowns and security at school football games, Molitor said. Until recently, the citys contract with union police officers set minimum staffing levels that drove up overtime costs, Molitor said. In negotiations with the union this summer, the city has succeeded in lowering those staffing levels and relaxing other rules. Molitor said some officers in 2011 were able to accumulate significant overtime pay under the old system. It was an overtime mill, he said. But those things are corrected now. City officials took aim at employee overtime costs across the board earlier this year because of a $700,000 budget deficit. The deficit has been blamed largely on the police unions unwillingness to accept higher pension costs in a new collective bargaining deal. Schmitt has estimated that the city could save $200,000 to $300,000 under his plan to curtail overtime not needed for an emergency. After the firefighters union objected to the mayors crackdown because it would affect minimum staffing levels in the fire stations, aldermen took steps to find other solutions to the budget deficit. Although a deficit strategy has yet to emerge, Schmitt said he remains optimistic about reining in overtime costs. Theres got to be a better system, he said. Were looking at it very seriously. Most city overtime is paid at a time-and-a-half rate, although some employees can earn double time. Four of the citys top overtime earners in 2011 were bus drivers in the Green Bay Metro transit system. One of them, Robert Simon, collected $19,000 in overtime, boosting his yearly pay from $43,805 to $62,812. Transit Director Tom Wittig said the bus system which is funded by other municipalities in addition to Green Bay has paid drivers overtime to work on Packers game days, shuttling football fans to and from Lambeau Field on routes that were introduced last year. Wittig said other overtime is needed to cover routes where drivers have retired or called in sick. The bus system cannot leave riders stranded just because a driver becomes unavailable, Wittig said. Youve got to have a driver in the seat, he said. Its true they have a lot of opportunity to make money. But they bust their butts doing it. Green Bay Police Who Collected the Most Overtime Pay in 2011: Overtime Base Salary Total ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michael Francois $30,669 $66,692 $97,361 Capt. Richard Demro $25,873 $76,915 $102,788 Randall Laluzerne $22,182 $65,314 $87,497 Rodney Dubois $20,835 $66,273 $87,109 Michael Wanta $20,455 $66,273 $86,729 Capt. Joseph Deuster $19,541 $76,915 $96,456 Douglas Wichman $18,798 $65,314 $84,112 David Vanerem $18,215 $66,347 $84,563 Lt. John Laux $17,761 $70,750 $88,512 Scott Peters $17,717 $66,273 $83,991 Capt. Paul Allen Ebel $17,059 $74,685 $91,745 Kevin Kempf $16,823 $62,158 $78,981 Gerald Young $16,260 $61,004 $77,264 Daniel Yantes $15,146 $66,347 $81,494