Ocean County trims overtime 27 percent

Overtime paid to Ocean County government employees in 2009 was down almost 27 percent from 2008, even though wages and salaries have increased, according to payroll records.

Overtime paid last year was $4.9 million, a drop from the $6.7 million paid in 2008.

Two years ago, 2,108 employees were paid $114.5 million in total payroll. Last year, 2,093 employees were paid a total of $118.4 million.

By the start of 2010, the Board of Freeholders reported that another 65 positions had been eliminated through attrition.

County Administrator Alan W. Avery Jr. said the decrease in overtime can be attributed to a directive he received from the freeholders at the height of the banking crisis at the end of 2008.

“I instructed all Ocean County departments to make every effort to reduce overtime,” Avery said. “The board also in their budget process for 2009 reduced budgeted overtime by various percentages as a cost-saving measure. Some overtime costs are inevitable, particularly in those departments that are required to operate 24/7. The only way to avoid that expenditure would be to overstaff those departments.”

As was the case in previous years, officers in the Sheriff’s and Corrections departments accrued the most overtime, with two corrections officers and one sheriff’s officer each making more than $40,000 in overtime.

There were 133 corrections officers last year, plus 32 supervisors, according to payroll records. The base salaries ranged from $47,000 to $88,000 for the corrections officers. Salaries for the supervisors ranged from $96,500 for a sergeant to $142,500 for the warden.

The Sheriff’s Office had 102 officers last year plus 32 supervisors and the sheriff himself. The salary ranges were similar to jail officers.

The most overtime paid to a single individual last year was to Corrections Officer Frank Gordon, whose base salary in 2009 was $86,657. He was paid $45,836 in overtime, for a total income last year of $145,563. Gordon was hired in February 1997.

The top 44 overtime earners, all in county law enforcement, each made more than $20,000 in addition to their base salaries in 2009.

Of the 103 county departments, 35 racked up more than $10,000 in overtime last year.

The administrator cited the operation of the Ocean County Jail in Toms River as requiring overtime. Each of the three shifts need between 20 and 45 staffers, he said. When a corrections officer calls out sick or takes vacation or personal time, another officer must be called in on overtime to replace that officer.

Between declining revenue streams and added financial burdens imposed by state government, Ocean County faces an $8.1 million budget deficit this year, if the county tax rate is not increased 1.8 cents to 27.2 cents per $100 of equalized assessed property value.

Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr., director of finance on the five-member, all-Republican board, said county government has implemented a general hiring freeze. If New Jersey’s fiscal emergency results in any further significant reductions in state aid, the county will be forced to consider furloughs or layoffs later this year or next year, he said.

“I can understand the state not forwarding state aid because it doesn’t have the money, but then it ought to forward an IOU, and it ought to make it up in the future and not just say, ‘We’re not forwarding what we committed to pay,’ ” Bartlett said.

APP

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