Commissioners adopt amended overtime policy effective Oct. 1; authorize payroll to pay accrued overtime through fiscal year-end

The Collin County Commissioner’s Court on a unanimous vote adopted an amended county overtime policy and gave staff direction to ensure employees who have already worked overtime are paid before the fiscal year ends.

County Administrator Yoon Kim told the court the amendment on the screen clarifies that “if the elected official or department head has funding available in the overtime line item, he or she may approve overtime, and payroll will pay overtime on the next pay period.” Kim also told commissioners that the sheriff’s FY2025 overtime line item is $233,000 and that “there’s been almost $2,200,000 in overtime accrued” in the current fiscal year, a point used to frame concerns about timing and funding for payments.

Commissioners debated whether to make the policy effective immediately or to start it on Oct. 1, FY2025. Staff recommended an Oct. 1 start for practical budgeting reasons; commissioners nonetheless agreed to approve the policy as amended with an Oct. 1 effective date. The court then addressed how to bridge the funding and timing gap for overtime already incurred in FY2024. Budget and HR officials said departments that routinely use overtime will have overtime line items and that the administration will move vacancy savings monthly to those overtime lines and perform a year-end cleanup to reconcile payments.

After additional discussion on practical steps, a commissioner moved and the court approved a separate direction allowing payroll, under standard practices and with auditor oversight, to process overtime payments already incurred through the end of the fiscal year for specified departments. The court identified the sheriff’s office, animal shelter, road and bridge, and elections as departments authorized to have overtime payments handled under standard practices for the remainder of the budget year.

The judge and commissioners emphasized the goal was to make sure employees who have already worked overtime receive timely paychecks rather than waiting for the court’s weekly agenda. County staff said they will monitor monthly actuals, move vacancy savings into overtime lines as appropriate, and coordinate with the auditor’s office during year-end cleanup to resolve FY2024 timing and funding issues.

The vote adopting the amended policy (effective Oct. 1) carried 4–0. The separate direction to allow payroll to pay already-worked overtime for the remainder of FY2024 also carried after motion and second.

What happens next: staff will implement monthly transfers from vacancy savings to overtime line items where authorized, coordinate payroll and the auditor’s office to process payments for hours already worked, and present any required budget amendments if overtime line items are exhausted.