http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-audit3sep29,0,7315953.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Louis Porter
Staff Writer
September 29, 2004
STAMFORD -- An audit released yesterday found few issues with overtime management by the city's Office of Operations and Stamford Fire & Rescue, but found several problems in the overtime of the Stamford Police Department.
The Board of Finance audit, conducted by accounting giant RSM McGladrey Inc., studied payroll records for a sample of employees in the three departments on some dates in the past two years.
In addition to overtime, the audit looked at extra-duty work done by police, which includes such jobs as traffic control at construction sites and security that individuals and companies pay for but which are administered by the city.
Though limited in scope, the audit found that among other issues, some police officers were apparently paid for regular and extra duty concurrently.
In its response to the audit, the Stamford Police Department reported that the incidents cited were primarily the result of numerous clerical mistakes, but one instance of concurrent payment is being investigated by the Internal Affairs Division.
The audit also found that extra-duty jobs often began or ended at the same time officers began or finished their shifts, the auditors found. Contractors paying for extra-duty work absorbed the cost of travel time, according to the department's response to the audit.
Republican Board of Finance member and Audit Committee Chairman Joseph Tarzia said that although the audit was limited in scope, it had 14 findings. "We need to do a full-blown, three-year payroll audit of the police department to get to the bottom of this," Tarzia said.
The McGladrey audit is expected to cost about $30,000. A comprehensive audit would cost more, but is worth it, Tarzia said.
"It is costing the taxpayers a lot more in service for which we are paying but not getting," he said.
Democrat Michael Pollard, the Democrat on the audit committee, said it was important for Board of Finance members to talk to the auditors and learn all that was discovered in the investigation before deciding what was to be done next.
"It certainly is impressed on me that this is a more complex area than most departments we deal with," he said of the multiple payroll systems and contract provisions that govern the police department.
Board of Finance Chairman Tim Abbazia, a Democrat, said that things have improved in recent years. But he wants a monthly report from the police about how much overtime has been spent and why.
"You take it one step at a time," he said. It also should be remembered that the police are doing a good job and working hard, he said.
Democratic Mayor Dannel Malloy said that few problems were identified in the overtime management of office of operations and Stamford Fire & Rescue.
"There are some weaknesses that continue to be demonstrated over at the police department," he said. "All departments are doing a substantially better job for monitoring and controlling overtime than they have in the past."
The systems in place for monitoring and controlling overtime -- while they could be improved -- are better than before, Malloy said.
"The city is being incredibly well-managed," he said. "Most people's taxes stayed the same or were lowered this year."
Tarzia disagrees about the management of the city.
"You have key people within the police department who are writing their own paychecks" with overtime, he said. "Until you get state and federal authorities to come in look at the kind of corruption that is going on in this city, the taxpayers of this city will continue to pay for the type of government that this mayor has allowed to continue for almost 10 years."
"Ultimately, it all ends up being paid by the taxpayers," he said.
Campaign contributions to the Democrats on the Board of Finance are one reason they have not gone after the overtime problems in the police department, Tarzia said.
The audit found that police earned much more overtime pay as a percentage of their base pay than either of the other two departments. This means some officers earn well over double their base when overtime and extra-duty work is included.
Police earned 72 percent to 129 percent of their base pay as overtime or extra-duty work in 2002. In the fire department, employees earned 24 percent to 48 percent of their base pay, and operations members 20 percent to 40 percent.
Last year, police overtime pay was 79 percent to 135 percent of base pay; it was 35 percent to 55 percent for firefighters and 37 percent to 55 percent for operations.
The auditors recommend changes in all three departments to make it easier for the city to track overtime awarded.
One of the changes the auditors recommended was that the fire department implement a single and consistent time sheet for all personnel and improve how it tracks overtime. Virtually all of the overtime worked by firefighters is used to fulfill minimum manpower requirements.
Assistant Fire Chief Peter Brown said he would love to implement such a system, but idiosyncrasies in the firefighters' union contract make such a system -- such as the Kronos system implemented for many city workers -- difficult to put in place and very expensive.
For instance, a firefighter working as an acting lieutenant is paid as a lieutenant and may have a series of differentials dependent on what day of the week it is and whether they are working overtime, he said.
"It's compounding and premiums that were the biggest stumbling blocks," he said. Only through labor negotiations can those provisions be changed, and it is not always worth spending goodwill and money to make bookkeeping easier, he said.
Program upgrades to Kronos so that it would work for firefighters would cost $250,000 to $270,000, he said.
The department uses a computer system developed by the city's information technology workers.
The fire department tracks its overtime carefully, he said.
"We make sure everything is accounted for," he said. "Generally, I thought we came out very well in the audit."
In operations, the Kronos program should be adapted so that the reason for overtime is included as a data field, the auditors found.
Copyright © 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.