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Committee reviews overtime and vacancy pressures; year-to-date overtime at about 41% of revised budget
Summary
The committee reviewed the county’s overtime and temporary spending, hearing that year-to-date overtime expenditures through July 11 are about $2,000,007 (roughly 41% of a revised $5,000,000 budget) and that 52–53 positions remain unfilled, which officials said increases reliance on overtime in some departments.
Putnam County’s Audit & Administration Committee on July 20 received an overtime and temporary-staffing report showing year-to-date overtime spending through July 11 of roughly $2,000,007 against a revised budget of about $5,000,000, or about 41% expended.
Staff said the 41% figure is an aggregate: some departments are underutilizing their overtime allocations while others — notably corrections and health — are trending higher, with several departments already at or above 50–60% of their overtime lines.
Committee members noted that the county has roughly 52–53 unfilled positions countywide; staff said money for unfilled positions remains in personnel lines and can serve as a backstop. Committee members discussed the trade-off between filling vacancies (which adds full-time salary and benefits) and using temporary or overtime coverage. One legislator said sustained vacancies can compound staffing strain, especially in areas like law enforcement and corrections.
Staff explained that if a department expects to exceed its allocated overtime budget, a transfer or amendment is required and would come before the committee for approval. The overtime report exists to give legislators early warning when departments approach high utilization so committee members can question trends and request corrective action.
The committee heard that managers are monitoring departments approaching threshold levels, and that some intra-departmental reallocations of unused overtime are possible only with committee approval. The report was presented as an FYI and for oversight; committee members said they will continue to use the report to check for departments that are likely to exceed budgeted overtime.
