Town Board Narrowly OKs Police Overtime Request

After a debate on skyrocketing , a resolution to increase funding in that budget line was narrowly met with approval by the Southampton Town Board Tuesday.

Councilman Chris Nuzzi, R-Speonk, abstained from voting on the $18,000 increase and Councilman Jim Malone, C-Hampton Bays, voted “no.” Nuzzi said that he abstained because while he agrees that officers who worked overtime should be paid, “I’m taking issue with the authorizations themselves.”

logged a total of $38,000 in overtime in the Nov. 30 payroll,  Southampton Town Comptroller Tamara Wright told the town board during its Tuesday evening meeting. Of the $38,000, $5,000 was for training hours, which is historically accounted for as overtime, she said.

The department’s currently tallies in at $702,000 through mid-November 2011, $227,000 more than the $475,000 budgeted for the entire year. Overtime came in at $520,000 for all of 2010, Wright said.

Overtime is on track to add up to $850,000 for the year, Malone said. Wright said there are still three pay periods remaining in the year.

Chief William Wilson was directed by town board resolution to come up with organizational changes on how to keep police overtime down, Nuzzi said. The councilman said he’s still waiting to hear the chief’s suggestions, or to see a memo about them.

“We are almost in December and we’re hearing the numbers have not changed much, even increased slightly, and there’s still no clear direction as to what’s happening or what’s been proposed to deal with the issue,” he said.

Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, I-Noyac, said that she met with Wilson Tuesday and he said that he would prepare a memo on what December overtime will look like. Wilson did not return a phone call placed to his office Tuesday afternoon.

Overtime charges typically spike in November and December because officers use up remaining vacation days before the end of the year, Throne-Holst said.

The board members had a detailed rundown of past overtime authorizations before them during the meeting. There were 21 entries for shift shortages, a total of 168 hours, listed in the document, Councilwoman Bridget Fleming, D-Noyac, said. She attributed the shift shortages to fewer officers in the police department.

Wright said that the Nov. 30 pay period is $13,000 greater than the same time last year.

 “It doesn’t’ seem as though we’re changing the number, we’re still running at $20,000 per week,” Malone said.