LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11)— Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has ordered a citywide review of overtime policies and procedures. It comes after a report revealed that some city employees made tens of thousands in overtime.
"When you take a look at this-- especially the big numbers—it’s just outrageous. How can somebody have 50 percent, 80 perent a 100 percent of their base salary in overtime?" says Mayor Fischer.
Mayor Greg Fischer calls it a red flag so glaring it can't be missed.
"We are taking a look at every expense that the city has right now because financial times are tough for all governments and ours included," says Mayor Fischer.
The mayor and city officials were conducting a basic review of the city's budget when he says major overtime issues came to light.
"There's several people that appeared to have abused overtime and so I asked for a listing of all the people in our city government. We have about 550 employees that have had 15 thousand in overtime and some about 100 percent, " says Fischer.
Three city employees earned more than 50 thousand in overtime in some cases a 100 percent was overtime. The majority of overtime came from police, fire and EMS. Mayor Fischer says often that overtime pay is built in or is paid back in federal money. Councilman David James says as someone with a background in law enforcement, he knows the overtime can stack up but supports the Mayor's review.
"Being a career law enforcement officer, I know that there is overtime that the police use regularly because of things happening that they don’t plan on. Some of the agencies have federal overtime that is reimbursed. So I look forward to being able to see the report and see if we can do better with the money we have," says Councilman James.
Mayor Fischer says he understands that overtime is sometimes necessary, but is also concerned it's costing taxpayers millions of unnecessary dollars each year.
The review should be completed by January 10th.
