The Press Telegram reported yesterday that the City’s general fund over the past year accounted for $27 million in overtime costs accounting for 6% of the entire general fund. Also, the number of City employees making over $100,000 jumped from 464 city employees in 2007 – 2008 to 876 in 2008 – 2009 when overtime is factored in.
Press Telegram staff writer Paul Eakins reported yesterday: In the 2008 fiscal year, the $392 million general fund included $27 million in overtime, most of it going to the police and fire departments, according to city records obtained by the Press-Telegram.
In that fiscal year, which was from Oct. 1, 2007, to Sept. 30, 2008, 464 city employees in all departments earned a base salary of more than $100,000, a list that the Long Beach Business Journal publishes every year and has dubbed the “$100,000 Club.”
However, the true $100,000 club is much larger, city records show. In the 2008 fiscal year, the number of employees who earned more than $100,000 almost doubled to 876 when added overtime was factored in.
Some employees had a few hours here and there, while others earned tens of thousands of dollars. Chief among these were Fire Department employees.
Five fire battalion chiefs pushed their annual pay from about $125,000 per year to just over $200,000 because of overtime.
Click here for the complete Press Telegram article.