LIHU‘E — Sometimes less is more. While furloughs were designed to dish out less money in regular pay, the county council questioned whether ensuing overtime required may have cost the county more than a normal work schedule. LIHU‘E — Sometimes
LIHU‘E — Sometimes less is more. While furloughs were designed
to dish out less money in regular pay, the county council
questioned whether ensuing overtime required may have cost the
county more than a normal work schedule.
LIHU‘E — Sometimes less is more.
While furloughs were designed to dish out less money in regular pay, the county council questioned whether ensuing overtime required may have cost the county more than a normal work schedule.
The council’s Public Safety and Environmental Committee on Feb. 2 approved a $269,238 General Fund appropriation to pay for Solid Waste Division overtime and premium pay from July to December 2010.
But it wasn’t approved without first picking apart the department. Council members wanted to find out how much of that overtime was incurred due to Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s two-day-per-month furlough plan. The furloughs lasted from July to December 2010.
When Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura told county engineer Larry Dill that it was her understanding that 10 percent of the overtime was due to furloughs, Dill said, “I don’t have that number.”
Solid Waste Coordinator Troy Tanigawa said employees at transfer stations usually work 10 hours per day, four days a week. Because of the odd scheduling, the facilities were overstaffed. Tanigawa called this a “redundancy.”
When the furloughs were implemented, that “redundancy” was lost. So when someone took vacation or sick leave, it caused an additional amount of overtime because the facilities need a minimum number of staff each day, Tanigawa said.
Despite saying that overtime increased during furloughs, Tanigawa said such an increase “wasn’t directly because of the furloughs.”
Yukimura said what Tanigawa was basically saying was that the county did not save any money with the furloughs, and ended up spending more instead.
“We did save regular cost because we didn’t have as many employees working,” Dill said. “But as a result of the lack of redundancy that we have built in the system in our normal routine, we did incur additional overtime.”
Dill said overtime pay is only one aspect of the financial impacts of the furloughs; the other financial impact is that the county wasn’t paying employees on furlough days.
“If you want to take a look at the overall picture, that’s a deeper question that we’re not prepared to address right now,” Dill said.
Councilman Tim Bynum said he doesn’t hold the department responsible for the overtime because during last year’s budget review sessions the council wasn’t allowed to have a “robust discussion” on the financial and operational impacts of the furlough.
“I was not a fan of furloughs. I was even more unhappy that we didn’t do an analysis by department of the impacts,” said Bynum, blaming the administration. “It’s clear that we paid employees time-and-a-half for what would have been straight time if they were non-furloughed.”
Chair Jay Furfaro was interested in figuring out the department’s staffing guidelines.
“I want you to be prepared at budget time to tell me what is the minimum staffing guide and how many people are in the redundancy.” said Furfaro, adding that Dill is telling the council that he is anticipating shortages while doing the scheduling.
Dill said redundancy may not the best word to use. Furfaro agreed.
“Redundancy is: You have back-up, you have more than you need,” Furfaro said. “Be prepared to justify that statement by showing me an actual weekly staffing guide of the manpower you need.”
Furfaro said he wasn’t talking about reducing staff, but justifying the need for staff.
“This is a requirement for most businesses today,” he said.
Bill 2397 appropriates $417,238 to the Solid Waste Division. $148,000 of that money would be used for an upgrade in the solid waste compacting equipment at Kekaha landfill.
The remaining $269,238 appropriation will be broken down in three ways: $135,238 in overtime for solid waste disposal staff; $115,000 in overtime for solid waste collection staff; and $19,000 in premium pay paid for solid waste disposal staff. Staff receives premium pay when a lower-ranked employee has to fill-in for a higher position.
Despite picking apart department heads, council members agreed that the bill should move forward, and voted to approve it. On Wednesday the full council will hear the bill.
Go to www.kauai.gov for more information.
