Nassau Police Overtime Exceeds Budget by $13M: Comptroller

An analysis by the Nassau County Comptroller shows that overtime for Nassau County Police officers in 2016 is projected to exceed $69.9 million.

According to Comptroller George Maragos, police overtime is going to go over its budget by about $13 million, or 23 percent more than budgeted. By the end of the year, he said, there will likely be more than 30 officers who earn more than $100,000 in overtime, with one possibly earning $200,000.

"Police overtime has been a recurring budget," Maragos, who is planning to run for county executive next year, said in a release. "While most officers appear to have reasonable overtime, greater oversight and better management of overtime would seem appropriate for those earning significantly above the median. An outside independent review of overtime assignment practices is strongly recommended."

According to Maragos's report, the overtime spending is not distributed evenly. Nearly 84 percent of the department earned less than $50,000 in overtime pay, Maragos said, with the average being $22,300.

Maragos said that 16 percent of the officers (375 out of 2,300) earned 41 percent of the overtime pay. The payment was skewed heavily toward the officers that are also the highest paid, with 90 percent of those highest-paid officers eligible for retirement.

For the first time, Nassau County will have police officers who will receive more than $300,000 in total earning this year. Two have already exceeded that number and the total is expected to increase to six police force members by the end of the year, the comptroller says.

There are 18 officers that are slated to earn more than $100,000 in overtime as of Nov. 30, and another seven toeing the line, ranging from $96,000 to $99,000 in overtime payment.

In a statement, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano did not address the high overtime directly, but said that the county was looking to hire more officers in 2017, which he said will help reduce overtime costs.

"Nassau County is one of the safest large suburban counties in the nation due to our well-trained and dedicated police officers, as well as the fact that this administration refuses to compromise public safety," said Mangano. "We will continue to police our county and assign the appropriate number of officers in these times of global terror threats and to combat the flow of heroin. It must be noted that the 2017 budget includes the hiring 150 police officers and 81 public safety personnel to secure our county and respond to ambulance calls - which together will reduce overtime."

Table of NDPD's 25 highest overtime earners as of November 30:

Photo: Patch