The Hollister Police Department spent nearly $300,000 in
overtime pay during the fiscal year that ended June 30
– largely because of several officer vacancies, according to
officials.
The Hollister Police Department spent nearly $300,000 in overtime pay during the fiscal year that ended June 30 – largely because of several officer vacancies, according to officials.
Interim Police Chief Larry Todd relayed that news to other officials this week, while the City Council will soon decide whether to fill four police officer positions on the HPD for next year’s budget.
Currently, the HPD is functioning with nine vacancies – including several officers on long-term disability, Todd said. Overall, the HPD’s vacancy rate is about 25 percent.
“You can only work people so hard, for so long,” Todd said.
That boost in overtime – an increase of about $80,000 from the previous year – helped contribute to the HPD spending over budget by more than $200,000, said City Manager Dale Shaddox.
The HPD spent $4.63 million during the past fiscal year. All city departments overspent by $3.3 million during that time, money drawn from the dwindling General Fund.
Shaddox said most of that HPD overspending was attributed to the overtime pay, along with several payments to departing officers due to accumulated vacation time.
The department’s status of being short staffed, and officers consistently working overtime, can cause morale problems, Todd said.
“If you can see light at the end of the tunnel, you’re willing to put in the extra effort,” he said.
The turnover level at the HPD is already “unusually high,” according to Todd. Officers often work in Hollister for one or two years
and then leave, he said.
Ample overtime for an extended period of time, Shaddox said, “stretches the employees.”
Salaries and benefits for the four vacant officer positions would, incidentally, cost the city about $300,000.
“I want to make it clear and recognize this is a policy Council decision,” Todd said. “It’s clearly a Council decision, and they have to look at the big picture of economics in the city.”
If the Council chooses not to fill the positions, according to Todd, the HPD must cut several programs currently in place. He mentioned a full-time school resource officer at San Benito High School and a full-time crime prevention officer as positions that would potentially be cut.
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program would be cut, as it is overseen by the crime prevention officer. And Todd said two motorcycle officers for traffic enforcement would likely be lost.
“I think we need to make cautious and careful cuts in other directions to make sure we maintain a comfortable level of public safety,” said Councilman Tony LoBue.
Shaddox’s draft proposal also includes $159,000 budgeted for HPD overtime in 2003-04.
