48 Firefighters Get $18K To $40K In OT Pay

JOLIET, IL - For two of the past three years, the city of Joliet has struggled to control the personnel costs at the Joliet Fire Department where the overwhelming majority of city of Joliet firefighters already make salaries of more than $100,000. A Joliet Patch overtime analysis determined that in 2016, a total of 15 city firefighters got $18,000 or more in overtime pay.

In 2017, a total of 48 city of Joliet firefighters - about one-fourth of the entire work force - made at least $18,000 in overtime pay and many substantially more. The unforeseen overtime expenses have been a thorny issue at City Hall; Fire Chief Joseph Formhals and new City Manager David Hales have struggled to bring the fire department's overtime expenses in line.

Some union representatives complain the Joliet Fire Department has been understaffed and they blame that for the rise in their overtime pay. On the other hand, there has not been a huge spike in major structure fires. In fact, in many weeks, it seems the New Lenox Fire Protection District puts out more structures fires than the Joliet Fire Department.

Earlier this year, Mayor Bob O'Dekirk blasted the Joliet Fire Department during a city council meeting for racking up obscene amounts of overtime pay in December and January. The mayor and others at the city suspected that a number of Joliet firefighters had been calling in sick to work, notably on weekends, as part of a scheme to help their fellow firefighters rack up additional overtime pay.

In recent days, using the Freedom of Information Act, Joliet Patch obtained the overtime payouts for all city employees during the past three years, 2015 and 2016 and 2017. This particular public spending watchdog article focuses on the fire department.

In 2017, the Joliet Fire Department racked up $2,681,017 in overtime expenses.

In 2016, the fire department's overtime costs were $1,773,794 million.

The following 48 firefighters made at least $18,000 - which is $1,500 per month - in OT last year:

1. Aaron Aguirre, $40,637 overtime, $148,307 total compensation for 2017, Local 44.

2. Robert Rosado, $39,444 overtime, $158,381 total pay. Local 2369.

3, Pat Strocchia, $37,549 overtime, $172,167 total pay. Local 2369.

4. Ronald Fox, $33,772 overtime, $174,647 total pay. Local 2369.

5. Daniel Miller, $33,435 overtime, $136,026 total pay. Local 44.

6. Frederick Offermann, $33,300 overtime, $172,484 total pay. Local 2369.

7. Robert Dilorenzo, $32,469 overtime, $179,470 total pay. Local 2369.

8. James Blake, $32,428 overtime, $177,125 total pay. Local 2369.

9. James Ryan, $32,187 overtime, $163,483 total pay. Local 2369.

10. Michael Stromberg, $31,888 overtime, $180,511 total pay. Local 2369.

11. Tyler Wilson, $30,748 overtime, $119,760 total pay. Local 44.

12. Eric Mattson, $30,180 overtime, $153,728 total pay. Local 2369.

13. Matthew Baxter, $29,477 overtime, $169,704 total pay. Local 2369.

14. Christopher O'Hara, $29,333 overtime, $131,027 total pay. Local 44.

15. John Miller, $28,973 overtime, $150,800 total pay. Local 2369.

16. Timothy Chaplin, $28,785 overtime $148,362 total pay. Local 2369.

17. James Lukancic, $28,325 overtime, $145,494 total pay. Local 2369.

18. Matthew Ehrsam, $27,787 overtime, $147,355 total pay. Local 2369.

19. Michael Carlin, $27,451 overtime, $131,831 total pay. Local 44.

20. Jeremy Hoffman, $26,918 overtime, $128,737 total pay. Local 44.

21. Christopher Stein, $26,205 overtime, $132,317 total pay. Local 44.

22. Neal Krutchen, $26,159 overtime, $150,115 total pay. Local 2369.

23. Jimmie Yates, $25,826 overtime, $133,029 total pay. Local 44.

24. Nicholas Baffes, $25,717 overtime, $132,673 total pay. Local 44.

25. Matthew Bozicevich, $25,667 overtime, $129,775 total pay. Local 44.

26. Jesse Oostema, $25,532 overtime, $120,632 total pay. Local 44.

27. Anthony Rohr, $25,160 overtime, $132,123 total pay. Local 44.

28. Stephen Rutten, $24,833 overtime, $126,241 total pay. Local 44.

29. John Gallagher, $24,800 overtime, $136,486 total pay. Local 2369.

30. Laroy Aldridge, $24,580 overtime, $171,761 total pay. Local 2369.

31. Matthew Pasteris, $24,063 overtime, $127,727 total pay. Local 44.

32. Michael Parenti, $22,682 overtime, $121,990 total pay. Local 44.

33. Michael Persha, $22,027 overtime, $129,720 total pay. Local 44.

34. Matthew McGuire, $21,652 overtime, $117,456 total pay. Local 44.

35. Brian Bornemann, $21,477 overtime, $127,339 total pay. Local 44.

36. David Young, $21,413 overtime, $123,382 total pay. Local 44.

37. Daniel Berta, $21,075 overtime, $150,026 total pay. Local 2369.

38. Rodney Leggero, $20,944 overtime, $155,127 total pay. Local 2369.

39. Matthew Thom, $20,944 overtime, $133,322 total pay. Local 44.

40. Michael Schultz, $20,620 overtime, $122,833 total pay. Local 44.

41. Ronald Schroeder, $20,262 overtime, $173,659 total pay. Local 2369.

42. Floyd Woods, $19,787 overtime, $159,681 total pay. Local 2369.

43. Aaron Kozlowski, $19,185 overtime, $154,220 total pay. Local 2369.

44. Edward Gergits Jr., $18,908 overtime, $111,296 total pay. Local 44.

45. Scott Munday, $18,896 overtime, $130,186 total pay. Local 44.

46. Daniel Koerner, $18,798 overtime, $143,630 total pay. Local 2369.

47. Mark Vershay, $18,541 overtime, $156,906 total pay, Local 2369.

48. Theodore Parks, $18,068 overtime, $153,669 total pay. Local 2369.

All images except bottom image via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor