Think the mayor is the highest paid employee in county government?
Think again.
Overtime pay is driving some county employees’ salaries much higher than their bosses’ and even higher than the mayor’s, the chief elected official on the island. Mayor Billy Kenoi makes $132,000.
In fact, some Hawaii County employees make more than the governor. Gov. David Ige’s salary last year was $146,628.
The top-paid employee in the county last year was a battalion chief for the Hawaii County Fire Department, according to an analysis of 2015 salary records provided by the county departments of Finance, Human Resources, Corporation Counsel and Water Supply.
The county provided salary figures where allowed by state law, and salary ranges in other cases. The analysis used the top ends of the salary range, and looked at just the two top-paid officials in each department, with and without overtime.
The county’s top-paid employee, whose name and exact salary were withheld by the county because of state confidentiality laws, made up to $205,013 last year. The department has nine battalion chief positions, with one of them vacant and unfunded and two others being held for recruits.
In comparison, the battalion chief’s boss, Fire Chief Darren Rosario, made $130,818 last year.
A park planner, whose salary and overtime brought his or her paycheck to $157,654, was the top-paid employee in the Department of Parks and Recreation. In comparison, the planner’s boss, Director Clayton Honma, made $99,000.
That $99,000 salary is the most common salary for department heads. It’s set by the county Salary Commission, a panel appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the County Council that occasionally reviews and sets salaries for top management officials in the county.
The Salary Commission gave raises pretty much across the board for top officials a few years ago. One of the motivating factors at the time was to make sure bosses made more than their employees.
But there’s not a way to make that happen when overtime is a regular occurrence.
“You don’t want to set people’s pay assuming that people are going to get overtime,” said Commissioner Brian De Lima. “The demands of the job should be such that people can perform their duties in the time allotted. … If overtime becomes the norm, that’s an issue of realigning staffing.”
Retiring Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira makes the most money in his department. His salary and overtime last year peaked at $146,489.
Grade VII civil engineers in the county departments of Environmental Management and Public Works topped $144,037 with overtime last year. The regular range for the position is $73,968 to $131,448.
With overtime, one of two assistant police chiefs pulled in up to $136,033 last year. In comparison, Police Chief Harry Kubojiri made $139,138.
Andrew Schrage, co-owner of the website Money Crashers Personal Finance, said it’s not cost-efficient to eliminate overtime in government agencies. It would cost more to keep positions filled to account for the worst-case scenario.
“Utilizing overtime compared to carrying unnecessary full-time personnel helps to keep taxation down to an extent,” Schrage said Monday.
County Legislative Auditor Bonnie Nims included an audit of overtime in her annual audit plan.
“We will assess internal controls identified during audit opportunities to better control overtime planning expenditures,” Nims said in the plan presented to the County Council. “We may also assess whether it is less expensive to pay overtime or fill new positions.”
Nims, who makes $99,000, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Schrage said natural disasters can drive up overtime costs, as can union contracts.
“Government agencies simply can’t hire enough staff to deal with a full-fledged emergency throughout the year, as an emergency situation may or may not occur,” he said. “Finally, union contracts also play a role in high overtime. Longer-tenured union employees are given virtual free access to pick the shifts they choose to work, whether or not overtime is involved.”
After trimming overtime costs for several years, the county last fiscal year saw overtime increases, primarily because of Tropical Storm Iselle and the June 27 lava flow, said county Finance Director Deanna Sako.
Overtime costs for the fiscal year that ended July 1 were $13.2 million. That compares to $8.8 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012, and $14.1 million in overtime paid in the 2007-08 fiscal year under former Mayor Harry Kim.
Specific statistics on overtime pay as a percentage of a government agency’s total operating budget are hard to come by, Schrage said. The most shocking statistic he found is that in one small town in Florida, overtime accounts for 7.1 percent of the operating budget for the entire city.
Hawaii County’s overtime costs last year accounted for 3 percent of its $438.8 million budget.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
