At every budget session, the subject of overtime pay comes up. Each year, the City of Richmond pays out millions of dollars in overtime. City staff and unions alike argue the necessity and frugality of overtime. They argue that it actually saves the city money because benefits are not paid for overtime pay – not exactly accurate, but a compelling story. In any event, what’s the difference – base pay with benefits or overtime at 150% of base pay?
Overtime is so much a part of the Richmond culture that it is baked into the union MOUs and budgets.
But not all city budgets are based on huge overtime payouts. Compare, for example, Richmond and Concord, Concord being the most populous of the two cities. The top ten compensated employees in Richmond collected a whopping $996,716 in overtime in 2019, while in Concord, the top ten compensated employees collected only $151,946 in overtime in 2019, only 15% of what Richmond paid out.
Top 10 Compensated Employees in Richmond, excluding City Manager, Police Chief and Fire Chief
$151,085.53
$46,314.97
$202,562.11
$399,962.61
$104,849.89
$49,630.97
$554,443.47
$150,748.20
$152,866.93
$18,429.54
$322,044.67
$116,768.25
$52,311.05
$491,123.97
$142,075.78
$132,567.86
$54,988.90
$329,632.54
$106,302.40
$49,500.03
$485,434.97
$150,748.19
$143,893.52
$11,478.19
$306,119.90
$115,494.24
$51,592.30
$473,206.44
$150,748.19
$123,159.92
$11,478.19
$285,386.30
$115,489.00
$51,592.30
$452,467.60
$157,076.22
$74,675.37
$38,811.85
$270,563.44
$110,002.22
$51,625.95
$432,191.61
$116,586.03
$145,280.50
$20,687.02
$282,553.55
$102,370.54
$44,048.27
$428,972.36
$157,610.65
$75,936.28
$30,230.40
$263,777.33
$113,952.62
$50,709.50
$428,439.45
$138,914.19
$102,020.66
$29,658.65
$270,593.50
$109,414.78
$48,102.05
$428,110.33
$147,360.04
$95,503.38
$24,311.02
$267,174.44
$110,785.98
$48,889.94
$426,850.36
TOTALS
$1,315,592.98
$996,716.01
$418,324.85
$2,730,633.84
$994,643.94
$449,112.42
$4,174,390.20
Top 10 Compensated Employees in Concord excluding City Manager and Police Chief (Note – Concord does not have its own fire department; it uses County Confire)
$230,430.18
$0.00
$19,525.56
$249,955.74
$80,464.84
$49,925.33
$380,345.91
$228,127.63
$0.00
$18,299.76
$246,427.39
$80,109.75
$49,573.82
$376,110.96
$185,710.42
$0.00
$80,171.25
$265,881.67
$47,661.60
$37,335.13
$350,878.40
$241,741.39
$0.00
$2,266.00
$244,007.39
$57,243.56
$48,553.23
$349,804.18
$204,634.09
$566.47
$19,404.15
$224,604.71
$69,328.75
$45,127.42
$339,060.88
$189,670.92
$1,618.86
$12,161.28
$203,451.06
$71,144.54
$41,465.41
$316,061.01
$179,909.50
$0.00
$15,599.55
$195,509.05
$68,828.54
$39,362.69
$303,700.28
$183,656.64
$920.59
$9,199.65
$193,776.88
$69,413.75
$39,826.14
$303,016.77
$108,411.37
$114,835.44
$6,561.40
$229,808.21
$47,182.25
$24,076.94
$301,067.40
$166,883.37
$34,005.30
$8,693.48
$209,582.15
$53,717.71
$36,079.10
$299,378.96
$1,919,175.51
$151,946.66
$191,882.08
$2,263,004.25
$645,095.29
$411,325.21
$3,319,424.75