Created: 4/27/2009 5:42:18 PM 
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- There was Tropical Storm Fay, which left a big mess to clean up.
There was the Presidential election, which required more people to man the polls.
Also factor in that crime is up and more police are needed, and Mayor John Peyton says you have the perfect storm for overtime. "We often times use overtime as a way to save money," says Peyton.
Actually, the City did save in the long run; overtime does not pay benefits. But it still means that someone has to be paid to fill a void.
"It takes a year to put officers on the street. So, while they are being recruited and trained, we are actually using overtime dollars to put an immediate presence on the street, and we're seeing good results from that."
Whether it's with the police or public works, someone has to do the job.
Last year, that job cost $32 million in overtime, which is $4 million over the designated budget.
About $13 million of that went to the JSO. The top earner was a female corrections officer, who made more than $79,000 in overtime.
"It was trying to meet obligations of the code of a female inmate, with a female officer." The Mayor says an understaffed jail did not leave much of a choice and the officer had to work.
In fact, the City is down 500 positions right now, which saved the City $18 million, but has left many understaffed holes to fill.
"We're actually under budget by $18 million which tells us we're not out of check. Do we use overtime strategically? I think so. Are there some instances where we should not use so much, probably so."
Taxpayers contacted First Coast News asking us to ask the Mayor why part-time workers couldn't be used rather than paying overtime.
The Mayor said, "There are instances where we can hire part-time, but we've made a deliberate effort because of benefits to avoid part-time work where we can."
The Mayor says his staff is tracking the numbers and believes with filling some positions the overtime numbers will go down.
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