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Faced with a shortage of dispatch employees, Pulaski County Sheriff J.B. King said the unit “will most likely collapse” if additional people are not hired soon. King said much of the problem stems from the amount of overtime the current four employees are accumulating.
The problem is not a new one for the department, which has struggled with compensation time issues for several years.
By policy, the department does not pay overtime to employees until they leave their position or until they have reached 480 hours of overtime worked. In 2005, more than 1,000 hours in accumulated overtime and vacation was paid to employees that left. With the average pay for a dispatch employee set around $8.72 an hour, 1,000 hours paid translates to more than $8,000 in non-budgeted expenses for the year.
2008 saw similar figures, King said, and this year isn’t looking much better, as one of the dispatchers has accepted a job with another agency and leaves March 21, while another is in the background process with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. King said he expects to lose that employee within 45 days.
“We paid out quite of bit of overtime to people that left,” King said in an interview on Friday, referencing 2008.
The current pay period alone saw a combined total of 123.01 hours of overtime between three employees, as one of the four-man staff was on vacation. Another employee fell ill during the pay period, but had already accumulated some overtime hours.
“The dispatcher who got sick finished the pay period with 13.5 overtime hours,” King said in a letter addressed to the Pulaski County Commission. “The two dispatchers that the burden fell upon finished with 54.38 and 55.13 hours of overtime.”
Losing the two current employees means the county will have to pay out about $9,000 extra in owed compensatory time.
The dispatch unit works around the clock, seven days a week, coordinating calls, entering information into the MULES system and manning the front desk.
In 2008, the department had 5 1/2 people, but 1 1/2 positions were left unfilled during the budgetary process for the new year as funding was tight.
“You can’t run a 24/7 operation with four people,” King said. “With those kind of hours you can’t sustain the unit. The unit will fold and everything will transfer over the communications center. And then that leads to a whole new world of problems.”
He estimated that the cost to transfer the MULES service to the 911 center will near $60,000 annually, should the dispatch unit collapse. The average compensation for four dispatchers equals about $75,920 yearly.
In his letter to the commission on Monday, King said, “The only way to stop this drain on the county finance will be to hire at least two, preferably three, additional full time dispatchers. The approval to hire the new people will have to be done quickly.”
Hiring new people means training, though, and assuming only two dispatchers will be left to handle the 24 hour day, that means even more compensatory time will collect in the department.
“The Sheriff’s Office dispatch unit will be on the brink of collapse during that training period and excessive overtime hours will be accumulated,” King said, noting still that if nothing is done, the unit will likely fold and continue to create financial problems as the MULES function will have to move to the 911 center.
“Pulaski County cannot afford to have the MULES and dispatch work sent to the 911 Center because this will create a host of other financial problems for the County,” King said. “If we are going to face these types of problems it would be much better to simply increase the needed resources for a successful and smart dispatch operation and continue the current status quo.”
Presiding Commissioner Bill Ransdall said he understands the ramifications of overtime and compensatory pay, but said that part of the problem in the Sheriff’s office isn’t because it’s short staffed, it’s because people are out on vacation and are sick, which compounds the overtime issue.
Ransdall said he asked King to come back to the commission in a week with an actual cost of transferring the MULES operations to the 911 center so that the county could have a solid figure to consider before taking action on the item.
“It’ll come down to dollars and cents,” he said.
But the dispatch unit is not the only one causing financial pains for the department. King said compensation for jailers, which has a high turnover rate, is not too far behind the figures dispatch is posting.
“We’ve paid out a lot of money to people leaving,” King said.
And while deputies have managed to keep compensatory time to a minimum, several hundred hours have still accumulated over the years.
A Missouri State Auditor’s Report from 2007 focused on some of the issues, including overtime problems that the department is still experiencing today.
“According to a summary report of leave balances provided by the Sheriff, as of August 2007, approximately 25 employees had accumulated vacation leave and compensatory time balances totaling approximately 3,900 hours and 3,700 respectively,” the report said.
“In addition, as reflected in the July 28, 2003, County Commission minutes, the County Commission adopted a policy which allows employees in the Sheriff’s Department to accumulate up to 480 hours of compensatory time; however, the County Personnel Policies Manuel for law enforcement personnel has not been updated accordingly. Although this issue was noted in our prior report, the County Commission appeared unfamiliar with the leave policies currently being followed by the Sheriff’s office,” the report said.
Lurking behind the overtime and compensatory issues, though, is the idea that the department needs to expand and add employees.
Operating with a department staff of 17, including himself, King said he believes the department should be allowed to grow to service the community. Two deputy positions were left unfilled in an effort to prevent cuts elsewhere in the office during the budgetary process.
“The days when this county could be controlled successfully by two deputies are long over,” King said. “Our department is grossly undermanned in terms of resources. We should have doubled the size of this department seven or eight years ago.”
King said he supports a 1/2 cent law enforcement tax, which would provide the funds needed to hire new officers, create an overtime fund to address the unfunded problem and purchase needed equipment. A 1/2 cent tax would create about $1.8 million a year in revenue and would translate to 1 cent extra for every $2 spent in the community. Additionally, the tax would free up money for the county to use elsewhere, King said, as his portion of the budget would decrease dramatically.
“With careful spending and planning, you can do just about anything with this department,” he said, referencing the possibilities if such a tax were approved.
Ransdall said the commission considered such a tax before, to the tune of 1/8 cent. But the suggestion was ultimately voted down by the commission at the time and to entertain another motion, if it were successful, would cost the city between $10,000 and $15,000 to have the ballot’s drawn and an election held.
Given the current economic situation, Ransdall said he isn’t sure that the voters will support a law enforcement tax, and with the expense that goes with it, it would be a large gamble.
“With the present economic development conditions, I think it would be difficult to pass,” Ransdall said.
Monies from the Recovery Act could help ease some of the woes. Nearly $1 billion has been made available through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program, which provides funds to qualified law enforcement agencies to fill unfunded positions, rehire recently laid off officers and hire officers for new positions.
If the Sheriff’s Department were to receive some of the funds, it would pay 100 percent of the salary and benefits of the officer for a period of three years. The county would then have to keep the employee on board for at least one more year at its own expense after the grant funding ends.
To get in on the grant, Ransdall said King will have to act quickly in completing the application process.
Faced with a shortage of dispatch employees, Pulaski County Sheriff J.B. King said the unit “will most likely collapse” if additional people are not hired soon. King said much of the problem stems from the amount of overtime the current four employees are accumulating.
The problem is not a new one for the department, which has struggled with compensation time issues for several years.
By policy, the department does not pay overtime to employees until they leave their position or until they have reached 480 hours of overtime worked. In 2005, more than 1,000 hours in accumulated overtime and vacation was paid to employees that left. With the average pay for a dispatch employee set around $8.72 an hour, 1,000 hours paid translates to more than $8,000 in non-budgeted expenses for the year.
2008 saw similar figures, King said, and this year isn’t looking much better, as one of the dispatchers has accepted a job with another agency and leaves March 21, while another is in the background process with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. King said he expects to lose that employee within 45 days.
“We paid out quite of bit of overtime to people that left,” King said in an interview on Friday, referencing 2008.
The current pay period alone saw a combined total of 123.01 hours of overtime between three employees, as one of the four-man staff was on vacation. Another employee fell ill during the pay period, but had already accumulated some overtime hours.
“The dispatcher who got sick finished the pay period with 13.5 overtime hours,” King said in a letter addressed to the Pulaski County Commission. “The two dispatchers that the burden fell upon finished with 54.38 and 55.13 hours of overtime.”
Losing the two current employees means the county will have to pay out about $9,000 extra in owed compensatory time.
The dispatch unit works around the clock, seven days a week, coordinating calls, entering information into the MULES system and manning the front desk.
In 2008, the department had 5 1/2 people, but 1 1/2 positions were left unfilled during the budgetary process for the new year as funding was tight.
“You can’t run a 24/7 operation with four people,” King said. “With those kind of hours you can’t sustain the unit. The unit will fold and everything will transfer over the communications center. And then that leads to a whole new world of problems.”
He estimated that the cost to transfer the MULES service to the 911 center will near $60,000 annually, should the dispatch unit collapse. The average compensation for four dispatchers equals about $75,920 yearly.
In his letter to the commission on Monday, King said, “The only way to stop this drain on the county finance will be to hire at least two, preferably three, additional full time dispatchers. The approval to hire the new people will have to be done quickly.”
Hiring new people means training, though, and assuming only two dispatchers will be left to handle the 24 hour day, that means even more compensatory time will collect in the department.
“The Sheriff’s Office dispatch unit will be on the brink of collapse during that training period and excessive overtime hours will be accumulated,” King said, noting still that if nothing is done, the unit will likely fold and continue to create financial problems as the MULES function will have to move to the 911 center.
“Pulaski County cannot afford to have the MULES and dispatch work sent to the 911 Center because this will create a host of other financial problems for the County,” King said. “If we are going to face these types of problems it would be much better to simply increase the needed resources for a successful and smart dispatch operation and continue the current status quo.”
Presiding Commissioner Bill Ransdall said he understands the ramifications of overtime and compensatory pay, but said that part of the problem in the Sheriff’s office isn’t because it’s short staffed, it’s because people are out on vacation and are sick, which compounds the overtime issue.
Ransdall said he asked King to come back to the commission in a week with an actual cost of transferring the MULES operations to the 911 center so that the county could have a solid figure to consider before taking action on the item.
“It’ll come down to dollars and cents,” he said.
But the dispatch unit is not the only one causing financial pains for the department. King said compensation for jailers, which has a high turnover rate, is not too far behind the figures dispatch is posting.
“We’ve paid out a lot of money to people leaving,” King said.
And while deputies have managed to keep compensatory time to a minimum, several hundred hours have still accumulated over the years.
A Missouri State Auditor’s Report from 2007 focused on some of the issues, including overtime problems that the department is still experiencing today.
“According to a summary report of leave balances provided by the Sheriff, as of August 2007, approximately 25 employees had accumulated vacation leave and compensatory time balances totaling approximately 3,900 hours and 3,700 respectively,” the report said.
“In addition, as reflected in the July 28, 2003, County Commission minutes, the County Commission adopted a policy which allows employees in the Sheriff’s Department to accumulate up to 480 hours of compensatory time; however, the County Personnel Policies Manuel for law enforcement personnel has not been updated accordingly. Although this issue was noted in our prior report, the County Commission appeared unfamiliar with the leave policies currently being followed by the Sheriff’s office,” the report said.
Lurking behind the overtime and compensatory issues, though, is the idea that the department needs to expand and add employees.
Operating with a department staff of 17, including himself, King said he believes the department should be allowed to grow to service the community. Two deputy positions were left unfilled in an effort to prevent cuts elsewhere in the office during the budgetary process.
“The days when this county could be controlled successfully by two deputies are long over,” King said. “Our department is grossly undermanned in terms of resources. We should have doubled the size of this department seven or eight years ago.”
King said he supports a 1/2 cent law enforcement tax, which would provide the funds needed to hire new officers, create an overtime fund to address the unfunded problem and purchase needed equipment. A 1/2 cent tax would create about $1.8 million a year in revenue and would translate to 1 cent extra for every $2 spent in the community. Additionally, the tax would free up money for the county to use elsewhere, King said, as his portion of the budget would decrease dramatically.
“With careful spending and planning, you can do just about anything with this department,” he said, referencing the possibilities if such a tax were approved.
Ransdall said the commission considered such a tax before, to the tune of 1/8 cent. But the suggestion was ultimately voted down by the commission at the time and to entertain another motion, if it were successful, would cost the city between $10,000 and $15,000 to have the ballot’s drawn and an election held.
Given the current economic situation, Ransdall said he isn’t sure that the voters will support a law enforcement tax, and with the expense that goes with it, it would be a large gamble.
“With the present economic development conditions, I think it would be difficult to pass,” Ransdall said.
Monies from the Recovery Act could help ease some of the woes. Nearly $1 billion has been made available through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program, which provides funds to qualified law enforcement agencies to fill unfunded positions, rehire recently laid off officers and hire officers for new positions.
If the Sheriff’s Department were to receive some of the funds, it would pay 100 percent of the salary and benefits of the officer for a period of three years. The county would then have to keep the employee on board for at least one more year at its own expense after the grant funding ends.
To get in on the grant, Ransdall said King will have to act quickly in completing the application process.
