Overtime pay for New York City municipal employees hit $1 billion in the last six months of 2021, a 62% increase from a year earlier, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reported Wednesday.
“The demand for services, combined with the temporary loss of employee availability attributed to the pandemic, contributed to a significant increase in overtime costs. During the first six months of the current fiscal year, overtime costs totaled $1 billion, up from $385 million in the same period last year. Police officers, firefighters, prison guards, and sanitation workers accounted for more than 80% of those overtime costs,” reads a statement. report published on Wednesday.
The drop in the number of city employees offset eight years of growth in the workforce, primarily in the NYPD and the Department of Education, according to the report.
The drop has been most significant among specific titles among school security officers, whose ranks fell 20% from June 2020 to November 2021, and corrections officers, whose numbers dropped 17%. Other positions whose numbers have plummeted include teaching assistants, managers and administrative support, according to the report.
However, only two departments, Prisons and Investigations, told the comptroller’s office that lower staffing levels were “impacting their ability to provide certain services,” DiNapoli said Wednesday.
While the downsizing gives Mayor Eric Adams a head start on his goal of cutting agency budgets by at least 3%, the city could face significant challenges as federal COVID-19 relief runs out, DiNapoli warned.
“On the one hand, downsizing gives the city an opportunity to reexamine its workforce, restructure programs more efficiently, and achieve that 3% cost savings outlined by Mayor Adams. However, it could negatively impact the quality and consistency of some public services and programs,” he indicated.
“Sharp declines in the city’s workforce combined with uncertain revenues to pay for programs as federal aid shrinks may test the city’s ability to provide high-quality services, just as the city is trying to ensure a healthy and broad recovery,” he added.
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