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Employees working overtime in Fire, Sheriff’s departments earn top wages
20 highest paid in county
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More from County NewsA fire battalion chief took home the second-highest wage in county government last year, besting his boss, the county fire chief, by more than 20 grand.
At $218,991, the battalion chief also earned more than the sheriff, district attorney, county counsel, public defender and medical director of the county hospital.
The list of the 20 top paid county government employees in 2006, requested by The Star, shows once again that fire and sheriff personnel are getting some of the best pay among county employees largely because of overtime. A similar list from 2004 revealed the same trend.
Nearly half of the county’s top take-home incomes last year went to fire battalion chiefs, fire captains, chief deputy sheriffs, and a sheriff’s sergeant. The sergeant, who was 19th on the list, was paid $182,206, more than double the job’s maximum base salary of $90,994.
The wages are gross earnings for 2006 and do not account for money put into pre-tax retirement accounts.
“Clearly, it pays to be a firefighter or in law enforcement in this county,” said Marty Robinson, county chief deputy executive officer, whose job title had a maximum salary of $153,131 in 2006. Robinson didn’t make the top wages list.
When it comes to firefighting in particular, the chances for making hefty salaries is not lost on applicants, Robinson said.
“It’s a pretty attractive job; firefighters are held in high esteem, and the pay is extremely good,” she said. “There were 1,000 applicants in the last fire department recruitment. That speaks volumes.”
2006 was a busy year
Driving the lucrative public safety salaries is the ability to work large amounts of overtime, a pay booster other job classifications don’t have, said County Executive Officer Johnny Johnston. He worries, though, that firefighters and sheriff’s personnel who are doubling their salaries with extra hours are paying too high a professional and personal price.
“It’s hard to draw the conclusion they’re paid too much, but clearly there is something quantifiable in the system that should be looked at when compensation is this skewed,” said Johnston, who topped the pay list at $246,832.
“There’s a lot of personal and family sacrifice for those working all this overtime, and the fire and sheriff managers should be the ones looking at that. They say they monitor it, but the lid is pretty high for some.”
The 20 highest-paid personnel just within the fire department ranged from a fire captain at $161,948 to the fire battalion chief at $218,991. A fire equipment operator earned $172,481, about $90,000 more than the $82,949 top salary for the position. Fire equipment operators handle heavy construction equipment such as bulldozers and motor graders in fire prevention and suppression work.
Fire Chief Bob Roper, who ranked 10th on the list at $196,795, said the bulk of battalion chiefs and captains earning twice their salary last year were most likely assigned to fires and other emergencies outside the county and state.
In those instances, the county is reimbursed for the overtime pay by state and federal government tax dollars, he said.
Roper said 2006 was a busy year, not necessarily in California but in the Western states.
“The benefit to us is the real-life experience pays us dividends locally by their higher level of proficiency in emergency management.”
As for personal sacrifice, that’s a personal decision for the individual, Roper said. Department policies call for firefighters to get a chance to sleep at least eight hours after shifts of 12 or more hours.
‘We have policies in place’
Last fiscal year, firefighting personnel worked 380,181 hours of overtime, costing $13.7 million in tax dollars, according to department figures. The year before, July 2005 to June 2006, staff worked 344,839 hours of overtime at a cost of $12.2 million.
Overtime in the Sheriff’s Department is part of an ongoing budget dispute this year. Sheriff Bob Brooks wants $2.8 million more to cover expected overtime wages for his deputies; Johnston is advising the Board of Supervisors not to appropriate the extra millions until the hours are actually worked.
Geoff Dean, the chief deputy in charge of the department’s patrol division, said deputies are working so much overtime they’re “fried.” But the department keeps an eye on deputies he calls “overtime mercenaries,” those who volunteer regularly for grueling amounts of extra shift work.
“We have policies in place, limits on how much they can do in a certain period of time,” Dean said.
For instance, a deputy cannot work longer than 18 hours without a rest period of six hours, Dean said. In those situations, deputies sleep in a bunk room at the station rather than going home, he said.
From June 2006 to June 2007, deputies, chiefs and commanders worked 341,715 hours of overtime for a total cost of $15.3 million. The top three reasons were covering for deputies on vacation, extra workload and mandated training.
In both departments, overtime is built into regular work schedules under union contracts, boosting regular pay automatically.
Guaranteed 162 hours
Under pressure from the union in 2002, the Sheriff’s Department began using 12-hour shifts for officers who work patrol or in the jail, about 60 percent of the sworn force. At the time, Brooks said he hoped the new scheduling system would reduce overtime costs by keeping more hours covered each day at regular pay.
But the schedule also comes with an automatic four hours of overtime every two weeks, or 104 hours a year, per person. For a deputy at top scale of $69,470, it’s an extra $5,209 a year that is figured into his or her retirement earnings.
On average, firefighters work 25 extra 24-hour shifts a year, said Abbe Bernes, assistant fiscal manager for the Ventura County Fire Protection District. That translates into roughly 240,000 hours of overtime annually for the district.
Under union contract, firefighters, engineers and captains are guaranteed 162 hours of overtime a year. For a firefighter earning the top salary of $67,016, the automatic time-and-a-half pay means an extra $7,829 a year. The guaranteed overtime also pumps up his or her retirement earnings.
The contract also includes a clause that requires all paid time off be treated as time worked. In other words, when a firefighter is on vacation or off sick, those hours are counted as part of the regular workweek. If the firefighter is called in to work during that same pay period on a scheduled day off, he gets paid at overtime rates.
Sell back 200 hours
While overtime increases public safety salaries, the list shows cashing in unused vacation time has boosted county managers’ take-home pay by thousands. The perk allows department heads to sell back up to 200 hours — or five weeks — if 80 hours of vacation have been used.
Johnston’s income was about $24,500 more than his salary of $222,294 in 2006 because he cashed in unused vacation time.
Public Defender Ken Clayman bumped his take-home pay by 17.5 percent, from $181,971 to $213,891, with unused vacation. Director of Public Works Ron Coons, who ranked ninth on the list with $197,362 in earnings, added $25,337 to the annual maximum salary for his position with the vacation buyback perk.
Elected officials such as the sheriff and district attorney do not accrue vacation time. That explains in part why the $214,035 Undersheriff Craig Husband made in 2006 was $16,180 more than Sheriff Bob Brooks’ take-home pay of $197,855.
Brooks’ pay that year was lower than the $198,950 allotted for his job, an indication he put more of his income into pretax retirement funds.
District Attorney Greg Totten’s gross taxable earnings were also lower than the $181,971 salary for his position. Totten took home $151,047.
Posted by bob100 on August 5, 2007 at 9:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There is something wrong in our county, where our board of supervisors value the public defender more than the district attorney and sheriff who are actually elected - we used to be law and order; now public safety is not high on their agenda -
Posted by senorbriar on August 5, 2007 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Overtime or not, we don't pay our public safety people enough. 69K for a top scale deputy and 67k for a topped firefighter? Peanuts in today's world. We ask these people to put thier lives on the line, when necesary....we should pay them higher salaries.
Posted by Ventura22 on August 5, 2007 at 9:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hmmm. Wouldn't it be cheaper, and safer to hire more staff to fill the vacancies? It seems dangerous to continue to allow so much overtime to be worked by the public safety personnel. The risk of burnout factor is an issue, as well as safety when you work people so much in a short period of time. These folks need to be at 100% ALL the time when they are at work; you can't expect anyone to believe that working for so many hours puts that employee at 100%?? There should be a limit to the amount of overtime an employee can work in a year, or even a month; mostly for safety reasons. Time to put a cap on it and force the departments to hire the appropriate number of staff to accomplish their missions, not work off the backs of those who sacrifice their personal lives just to earn extra bucks in OT. The county needsto be responsible with it's employees and impose limits to O.T. because the policy is getting abused, not just by the employees who want to pump up their earnings, but by the departments who have been groomed into expecting all the extra work out of their staff just for throwing money at them. When they start attracting applicants who are drawn to the high wages and overtime potential, they are attracting the wrong type of employee who usually ends-up living outside their means and becomes addicted to O.T. just to keep up.
Posted by surfmedic91 on August 5, 2007 at 10:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Actually hiring more staff will increase the costs of training, health insurance, liability insurance, new equipment, etc. I agree that more personnel are needed but that is something that has to be budgeted for. If it's not in this years budget, then it won't happen until next year. Many deputies and firemen work the OT because they enjoy their jobs, like the extra pay, and know it will benefit them in the end. A cap on OT has to be approved by the County as well as the unions. It's not a quick fix.
Posted by mg911 on August 5, 2007 at 10:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is the same story from the same reporter year after year. She must not like to work very hard, she just changes some of the words around from last years story. Her facts aren’t even right. For starters, when she says firefighters get a guaranteed 162 hours of overtime per year, those hours are paid at HALF time, not time and a half for hours that they HAVE to work as part of their standard shift, (a firefighter shift is 56hrs/week), that’s Federal Law. Also, she is wrong when she says overtime hours boost the retirement of employees. An employee's retirement is based on salary minus any overtime.
This reporter only tells one side of the story. Nothing is ever said about being stuck on a fire for 15 days, missing Christmas or family birthdays. Over a 30 year career, a firefighter not working a day of overtime will spend 1/3 of his time at a fire station, that's 10 years away from home, and that's without any extra time spent out on fires! Nothing is mentioned about the early death rate of firefighter due to chemical and smoke exposure. And the funny thing is, all of these firefighters would do it for free as long as they knew their family was provided for. The firefighter gets into the job because they love the work and helping people!
So let's see if the Star will support some factual, complete reporting.
Posted by Tom_Johnston on August 5, 2007 at 11:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I quite agree with mg911...this seems to be the latest in an annual installment of the same tired article. What is the point to it?
I agree with other posters that so much overtime is probably not good for those who work it, and that at least some of it could be better served by hiring additional staff.
As to allegations of errors, well, I don't know in this instance, but I do think that the Star could generally do a better job with fact checking than it does now.
Posted by Camman on August 5, 2007 at 11:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow, talk about milking the system!!! Granted, these firefighters do an excellent job but the county should look into hiring more individuals so the overtime game cannot be played. A firefighther used to live next to me and talked about how lucrative the overtime game was. He made well over $100K per year. In the same breath he complained about how overworked he was...
Ventura County officials - FIX THIS or the voters will!!!
We pay over $100K for firefighters while we only pay mid $30K for our teachers. What is wrong with this picture?
Posted by B8R_N4MD on August 5, 2007 at 11:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Nothing mentioned about the month long Day Fire last year in this county. Also not mentioned is the number of engines sent to other jurisdictions to assist on fires, a part of mutual aid. Ventura County has engines assisting on the Zaca Fire. Those firefighters do not come home after each shift, they stay up there. I will guess that in the firefighters case, most of the overtime was not of their own free will, but of mandates or incidents that happened to occur while they were on duty. That sometimes happens with law enforcement but not as often.
It is all part of doing business in the safety professions. I thank each one of them for being available when the call for help is placed.
Posted by Camman on August 5, 2007 at 2:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
and make $200K+ woohoo!!!!
Posted by dpokim on August 5, 2007 at 2:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The one item that is never mentioned in these articles are the exact number of overtime hours these employees are working. That would be enlightening because then it would realized how much time away from home they are missing. It is true that many employees want to work the overtime, others do not. However, even if they do not want to work it they are required in order to cover vacancies. Also, there are overtime caps that exist at both departments. Both departments have minimum staffing levels that must be filled. If there are no volunteers, then someone is ordered to work. This may include holidays or personal plans being cancelled. Few complain because it is the accepted nature of the job, just as is being injured or killed in the line of duty. There are vacancies that must be filled with overtime because the agencies cannot hire to fill behind someone on extended injury time, disciplinary leave, etc. It is not until those employees separate from the department that another can be hired behind them. Then you have vacations and sick leave. There are also vacancies that exist because enough people do not apply and if they do, many do not pass the rigorous background and training. So if anyone is still considering complaining about this topic, apply at one of the departments and see if you too can reap the "rewards."
Posted by Ventura22 on August 5, 2007 at 4:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
One key piece of information missing from this article is that when fire personnel are out on fires away from our county, someone has to backfill their position for them while they are gone, and guess how this gets accomplished? Overtime by the remaining employees left behind. The state and feds do reimburse V.C. for the 12-16 hour workperiods worked each day on their incidents, but not the continuous pay our county staff get while they are away. They are getting paid straight 24-hours by V.C., regardless of the actual work schedule at the incident. If they are on a 56-hour workweek, anything over that is all overtime, 24-hours a day. Pretty lucrative setup.
Posted by Tom_Johnston on August 5, 2007 at 5:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Something that I noticed later, and thought I'd mention now..and I think this is pertinent. These "top twenty" are almost all managerial or supervisory employees. It does not look to me like any are remotely "rank and file" cops or firemen.
Don't know what to make of it, but thought it interesting to point that out.
Posted by surfmedic91 on August 5, 2007 at 5:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How about the medical residents and doctors that are working the same hours and providing your medical care? Isn't that just as unsafe? how about all the time they spend in ongoing training and the deputies that have to appear in court? That is paid as overtime if not during their normal work hours.
Posted by Ventura22 on August 5, 2007 at 9:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If one were to get the numbers on the rank and file staff, they would see that those positions too make in some instances twice their maximum regular salary. Look at some of the earnings of fire captains and a lot of the firefighters. They have some pretty impressive numbers. No wonder that whenever they test, there is a line around the block to get in. Nowadays, they recruit and attract mostly the type of individuals who want the money and status, but not necessarily the job. Where else in the working world can one earn this much money with not much more required than a valid driver's license, citizenship, high school diploma or an AS degree? Pretty sweet deal and I'd be in line with them all over again. There wasn't a lot of money in it when I began my career, but there were a lot more actual fires, and less medical calls.
Posted by ebrockway on August 6, 2007 at 8:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
True, there are more medical incidents and less fires. Goes to show you the Fire Prevention programs are working, and we're becoming a bunch of fat slobs!
Posted by purtyGF on August 6, 2007 at 11:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Great. The firefighters deserve that hefty pay as they place their lives on the line whenever they are called to perform their job. I feel my tax money is well spent.
Posted by Buddys_Mom on August 8, 2007 at 11:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This article infuriates me, but I'm thankful for the positive comments/rebuttle than has ensued: Mg911 thanks for getting the facts straight; Camman, you're right - teachers DO need to be paid more; and for all those who commented on why firefighters DESERVE descent wages ("life on the line/time spent away from home"), thank you.
Kingsfan, have you ever visited a fire station? They're lucky if they can sit down "on their butts" to eat dinner, so wise up, mister! If they're not responding to fire or medical calls (or out of town on a wildland fire), the firefighters are checking equipment, training, cleaning, preparing schedules, etc. You try waking up a few times a night and alerting yourself to the call/task at hand, after working 48 + hours straight. Give 'em a break! If time allows, by all means, they should sit down and rest for obvious SAFETY reasons.
I want to clarify a few things...Ventura CITY firefighters don't ask for overtime. Every month, a schedule comes out, dictating who has how much overtime (dependent on overtime hours previously worked and who is available to fill the spots). Firefighters can trade overtime days, but they are stuck with the number of shifts they are scheduled to fill. For example, firefighters are supposed to get 6 days off in a row apx every month. What a JOKE!!!!!! My husband has had ONE "6 day" in the last year and a half (outside of vacation). Also, when firefighters respond to wildland fires, their time is often paid for by other agencies, so it doesn't all come out of local funds.
I feel blessed to be married to someone who is working his dream job in our dream locale; however, I hope that people realize the sacrafices these firefighters are making, the pennies they are given in return, and the hardships that exist on their families due to vacancies/overtime.
Hopefully, city managers will allocate more money to the fire dept, so they can afford to hire additional employees to fill vacancies. God knows we can't get any good laterals, because no one wants to take a pay cut and work for a dept where the salary is so low (compared to other depts in CA) and people are MANDATED to work so much overtime.
Posted by sldiaz on August 9, 2007 at 9:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I have friends and family that are Fireman and Police Officers and I have yet to see any of them living “Lavishly” as you so kindly worded it, yet I do see how much they are sacrificing. I see the school functions, sporting events and holidays that are missed every year. You do not mention in your article the fact that these men and woman work WHENEVER they are asked to. They do not have the luxury of working an 8 hour day and then returning to their spouse and children. No, it is usually a 12 hour day and their schedules vary weekly/monthly depending on the time of the year, etc., not to mention when they do not return home for weeks at a time and for what, To protect strangers. You do not mention the countless family vacations that are missed because of a fireman/police officer doing his/her job or the endless days and nights the families of these OVERPAID individuals are spent worrying and wondering if their loved one is going to make it home safe!All you are concerned about is how much money was earned last year in OT. Well I can tell you that there are millions of individuals who sit behind a desk for a few hours a day and earn a hell of a lot more money then the Fireman/Police officers could ever dream of, but I do not see the VC Star writing an article about them and if you did it would probably be about what a great job they have done for themselves. The Public Service employees risk their lives every minute of the year not only while they are on duty, but off duty as well. You will never hear them complain. So next time your loved one is in a bad car accident and needs the jaws of life to get them out of their smashed vehicle or a fire on a hillside is about to burn everything you own, go ahead and stop them from protecting it and let them know they can go ahead and go home to their families where they should be, instead of saving yours!!! And you want to talk about the Bulldozer Operators, well there are only 3 of them in Ventura County, and you would not or could not imagine the danger they present to themselves every time they get on that Bulldozer. Why don’t you write an article about a day in the life of one of them and spend one hour on duty with them on that bulldozer and I guarantee that your one sided opinion will change dramatically. There have also been several comments from individuals that say to hire more employees, so there is less overtime being paid out, come on people, do the math. The hiring process alone for Ventura County is extremely costly not to mention the training, liability insurance, new equipment, benefits, etc, that would have to be paid out so this is definitely not the answer. I will gladly pay my tax dollars to these individuals that protect me from danger 24 hours a day 7 days a week, no questions asked.
Posted by VeritasLuxMea on August 9, 2007 at 2:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
All of you poster need to chill out - you either think our public safetly officials are lavish living slackers or god-like men of perfection who live at poverty levels.
This article is just pubic information about public employees that the public has the right to see. It is your tax dollars at work and as the taxpayer you have the right to see this information. Period.
Roper stated it the best: "As for personal sacrifice, that’s a personal decision for the individual."
All jobs are a choice - police are no better than firefighters which are no better then teachers, insurance agents, farmers, accountants, Edison employees or whatever.
Any one who works their butt off for their family is a hero. Many work hard work OT and don't get paid enough - not even Sr Deputy the base.
Posted by VeritasLuxMea on August 9, 2007 at 3:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am always interested to know where my sale tax and property tax money is going. I would it rather go to public safety than controversial social programs. Isn't it better to know yourself so you can make up your own mind about the government than to have political hacks tell you? In this case the Star is just doing a public service. Relax...
Things are fine...a 1,000 applicant list for a very limited number of open fire positions speaks volumes that things are working. Sure they work their butts off, but the pay is good. It's all about choices.
I don't care if they get lots of money if the OT is hard earned. I do care about the burn out factor. Tired firefighters are more prone to injury, which is bad for their families and also cost taxpayers lots of money. This part was not mentioned but should be.
Posted by r.gyurkovitz on August 10, 2007 at 8:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Firefighter overtime pay is well earned and one of the attractions to the position. Paying a limited number of firefighters overtime costs us taxpayers a heck of a lot less than hiring enough to cover all man hours at base pay, even counting injuries sustained by weary firefighters.
I might say the same about police, but I've never been publicly humiliated by a bored firefighter.
Posted by debs6196 on August 10, 2007 at 8:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank Heavens they have all this OT, because Ventura County wouldn't have any fire fighters at all. You need a huge salary just make a mortgage payment of a very modest home.
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