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County departments paid more than $53 million in overtime in 2013, according to statistics posted on the county's data website. Almost 35 percent, or $18.4 million, went to the county’s Department of Fire and Rescue Services.
Six firefighters pushed their wages over $200,000 by collecting more than $90,000 in overtime last year, according to figures posted on dataMontgomery. On average, firefighters who collected overtime were paid an additional $15,800 on top of their salary.
A significant amount of overtime pay also went to the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation and to the police department.
Patrick Lacefield, the county’s director of public information, said that although the numbers look large, it’s cheaper for the county to pay overtime than hire an additional full-time worker, due to the cost of benefits. He said benefits account for about a third of the compensation the county pays an employee.
“With these public safety agencies, you also have to factor in that they’re 24/7,” Lacefield said. “You don’t have a choice to staff something or not. You have to have people in those seats. Inevitably, you’re going to be dealing with overtime.”
“We do this not to help individuals, but to meet our operational needs,” Lacefield added.
Lacefield said non-public safety departments, such as the Department of Transportation, rack up overtime during emergency situations, including snowstorms, while the Department of General Services manages sudden problems at county buildings, such as bursting pipes and power outages.
“Over the last few years we’ve been honing in on where the overtime is and who’s doing it,” Lacefield said.
The county’s data website doesn’t show historical salary data, but Lacefield provided the most recent overtime data. In fiscal year 2012, which streches from the summer of 2011 to summer 2012, the county spent $47.2 million on 1,075,000 hours of overtime and in fiscal year 2013 the county spent $49.2 million on 1,137,000 hours of overtime.
The Washington Post reported in February that overtime costs at the fire service grew from $14.5 million in 2010 to $18.3 million in 2013. The paper also noted that last year 136 county employees made over $40,000 each in overtime pay.
Lacefield emphasizes that overtime is in the county’s interest because it’s cheaper than hiring new employees.
