Increase in City’s Overtime Expenditures Largely Driven by Fire Department: Report

In keeping with a statewide trend, overtime costs for municipal workers have continued to rise in Pasadena, with 28 city employees – primarily in the fire and police departments – earning more than $100,000 in overtime compensation last year, according to just-released data published by the organization Transparent California.

At least 14 city workers more than doubled their base pay through overtime, according to 2019 statistics released by the organization.

Twenty-seven city employees earned more than $100,000 in overtime in 2018, the data shows. At least 19 of them more than doubled their base bay.

“(Overtime) is up 60% since 2013 at the city of Pasadena,” Transparent California Executive Director Robert Fellner said. “For comparison, total pay is up 26% and total comp is up 33% over that same time.”

Many other cities have also seen growing overtime costs in recent years, according to Transparent California, which noted overtime costs in the city of Los Angeles had ballooned by 110% since 2013.

“Pasadena stands out for its total comp per city resident served, at $2,022,” Fellner said. “That is extremely high, and will likely be in the top 25 of all 470+ CA cities.”

Average total pay for Pasadena city workers, not including partial-year employees, was $112,934, or $163,014 including benefits, Fellner said.

The fire department draws the biggest portion of the overtime compensation, data shows.

Of 70 city workers who earned more than $80,000 in overtime in 2019, 43 of them worked for the fire department, whie 25 were police employees, according to the database. Two of the 70 employees worked at Pasadena Water and Power.

But the overtime listed in the database is not always paid by the city, city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said. Much of the overtime is the result of “strike teams” sent to assist other jurisdictions with large fires.

“We send personnel out on an unprecedented number of strike teams which accounts for a large number of fire overtime because personnel were assigned in rugged conditions for two to three weeks at a time,” she said. In those instances, “The city is reimbursed by state and federal entities.”

She also pointed out that firefighters are often paid hourly, rather than on salary, and they work 24-hour shifts. Under those conditions, “numbers add up quickly,” Derderian said.

Large events, such as those at the Rose Bowl and the Pasadena Conventions Center, tend to require significant overtime from both firefighters and police officers, she said.

“Additionally, they are required to staff television and film details where overtime is often paid for by third parties,” according to Derderian.

She also cited an “enormous number of vacancies” in the fire department as a reason for increasing overtime.

The Pasadena Fire Department had 14 vacancies, “12 of which will be occupied by the current recruit academy when they graduate in October,” Derderian said. But another seven to nine firefighters are expected to retire in December.

“When staffing levels are down, we need to rely on more overtime,” Derderian said. “Often, that is forced overtime, meaning we require people to come in when they don’t necessarily want to be working and away from their families.”

“Although filling a critical gap, public safety personnel often spend more time at work then home,” she said.