Pima County Sheriff’s Department Blows Overtime Budget by Nearly $2 Million

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is nearing the end of the fiscal year nearly $2 million over budget due to overtime pay. Records reveal that at one point, the department was expending around $9,000 daily on overtime.

This is the second consecutive year the department has significantly exceeded its overtime budget, a trend that began under Chris Nanos, who was appointed sheriff in July 2015.

Sheriff Mark Napier, who took office in January, has reportedly drastically reduced these costs. He anticipates keeping the department within budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

According to an analysis, from July 1, 2016, to February 28, the department averaged $9,300 per day in overtime. This number was reduced to $4,900 daily from March 1 to May 27. For Pima County employees, the overtime rate is 1.5 times their regular pay.

The overtime covers roughly 1,400 department employees, including administrators, sworn members, and corrections officers.

In fiscal years 2013 and 2014, the department budgeted nearly $1.6 million annually for overtime and finished under budget by $130,000 and $440,000, respectively. However, in fiscal year 2015, the department exceeded its overtime budget by $200,000.

By the end of the 2016 fiscal year, overtime expenses had surged to $2.9 million, surpassing the budget by over $2 million. In 2016, the Tucson Police Department, with about 1,300 employees, shelled out $6.6 million in overtime.

This fiscal year, the sheriff’s overtime budget saw a small increase, with $861,000 allotted from a total budget of $147 million. Yet, by February 28, the department had already spent $2.25 million on overtime, resulting in a $1.4 million overage. By mid-May, this figure grew to $1.73 million.

Sheriff Napier has urged his staff to limit overtime to essential circumstances. Unable to account for the previous overspending, Napier criticized the prior administration for unreasonable expenditures.

“It was just given away. It was gifts to placate the troops and that’s just not reasonable,” Napier said. He emphasized the need for fiscal responsibility, despite the internal unpopularity of such measures.

During the pay period ending September 17, 2016, the department accrued 3,900 hours of overtime. This number rose to 5,400 hours in the pay period concluding ten days before the November election.

Napier questioned the necessity of such high overtime hours, jokingly saying he was unaware of any blizzard in Tucson at that time. He noted that while emergencies like destructive monsoon storms can spike overtime, the previous levels were inexplicable.

For the pay period ending April 22, the department logged 1,300 hours of overtime, with recent periods seeing a reduction to 962 hours. Napier asserted that the department is critically evaluating each instance of overtime to determine its necessity.

Grants cover some overtime, and more changes are underway to ensure additional overtime is funded by grants, not the sheriff’s general fund. Units like narcotics special investigation, which exceeded its $42,500 allotted for overtime, will see a reduction as they partner with the Counter Narcotics Alliance. Future overtime for this squad will be covered by High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) funds.

Other departments significantly over budget for overtime include the Ajo district, the violent crimes section, the Foothills district, and the corrections department’s tower section.

Napier acknowledged the dissatisfaction among employees with the cutbacks. Eric Cervantez, president of the Pima County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, warned that these reductions could impact public safety, suggesting proactive policing could suffer under stricter budget controls.

Cervantez also indicated that veteran deputies and correction officers are departing for agencies offering higher pay. While hopeful for salary adjustments, he noted Napier did not request increases during the fiscal year 2018 budget proposal.

Despite the challenges, Napier is confident the department will stay within budget for the 2018 fiscal year. When he assumed office, the department faced a $6 million deficit, prompting delays in training academies and elimination of positions to stabilize finances.

Napier intends to enhance budget accountability at the operational level in the coming year, aiming for financial responsibility as a primary focus.

Contact reporter Caitlin Schmidt at cschmidt@tucson.com or 573-4191. Twitter: @caitlinschmidt