Hawaii County is on track to pare almost half a million dollars off overtime expenses this year compared to last year.
But overtime for county employees, most notably in the police and fire departments, still accounts for millions of dollars, according to an analysis of data provided by the county Finance Department.
In all, employee overtime for 19 county departments is expected this year to cost about $13.8 million of the $490 million budget, compared to $14.3 million last year.
Fire Department employees get the most overtime, a projected $6.8 million this year. That’s followed by the Police Department, accounting for about $4.4 million. The amounts reflect a slight decrease from last year.
Overtime has long been an issue in county government.
Former Mayor Billy Kenoi and former County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong put the spotlight on overtime spending during their terms, and Kenoi was able to bring the annual cost down to $8.8 million in 2012. It crept back up to $14.3 million during Kenoi’s final year in office.
Mayor Harry Kim’s administration is trying to cut overtime spending, said Managing Director Wil Okabe. Certain departments were asked to reduce such expenditures and others will be worked with soon, he said.
“We’re trying to be more efficient,” Okabe said.
Public Works, for example, was asked to reduce overtime costs and is projected to trim more than $177,000 off last year’s $468,548.
Efficiency is important, but it’s also important to get the job done, Okabe said. And in an emergency, all bets are off.
“If there is a need for the overtime, it’s not like we’re not going to OK it,” Okabe said.
Some departments and divisions, such as Elections within the county Clerk of Court’s office, have cyclical overtime because the workload follows a schedule, in this case election years.
The balance between workload and the need for overtime is of interest to the county legislative auditor, who’s added it to her planned audits.
“We will evaluate internal controls; identify opportunities to better control overtime expenditures. We may also assess whether it is less expensive to pay overtime or fill new positions,” said Legislative Auditor Bonnie Nims in her 2017-18 audit plan.
She said Wednesday the audit is in extremely preliminary stages and it will be some time before it’s undertaken.
The Department of Environmental Management, plagued with vacancies in key positions, spent about $1.6 million in overtime, the same as last year.
Environmental Management Director Bill Kucharski said engineers with “a very select skill set” are hard to find. He said the department is working to change some of the job qualifications for the most difficult to fill positions.
“It’s not like we get a lot of people walking in and saying, ‘I really want to work in the sewer,’” he said.
Other jobs require specialized commercial driver’s licenses, limiting the employees who can perform them. The department works off a list of who gets priority for overtime, according to union rules.
“Most of it is the case of having more work than available people to do it,” Kucharski said.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
