Batavia makes one more cost-cutting move

In another effort to cut spending, the city of Batavia will now allow certain full-time workers to take compensatory time off, instead of receiving overtime or double-time pay, in a pilot program the city council approved Tuesday night.

The city spent $610,070 in 2008 for overtime and double-time for administrative and public works employees.

The six-month trial starts today and ends April 30. It is expected to especially cut overtime in the streets and sanitation department during snowplowing season, according to Randy Recklaus, assistant city administrator. That department spent the most, at $247,026; the electric utility was second, at $176,057.

Managers and employees suggested the move during talks on how to trim city expenses in light of declining revenue, said Alderman Linnea Miller, chairman of the government services committee.

The city has laid off several workers and offered early retirement incentives to others. The police department even canceled its annual National Night Out Against Crime event to save a few dollars.

About 70 workers are eligible for the comp time plan. Unionized workers in the police department - records technicians, community service officers, police officers and sergeants - already have such a policy, and convert about half their overtime to comp time.

The council decided not to extend the plan to the fire department, however, fearing it would experience staffing issues that have arisen in the police department. "Our experience with comp time in the police department has been mixed," Miller said. Sometimes, when people were taking comp time, that left the police short-staffed and forced to offer overtime to handle their jobs.

Under the new plan, the city can call a worker back in on a comp day if a need arises.

Workers will earn 1.5 hours of comp time per hour worked over, or two hours if they would have been eligible for double pay. They can accumulate up to 80 comp hours. Workers will choose whether to request the pay or the time, and supervisors can say "no" to a comp time request.

Recklaus said he thinks some snowplow drivers may like to take comp time right away if they have been working double shifts during snowy weather.