Overtime jumped from $80 million in 2006 to $92 million in 2007
Southern Nevada officials think that it is often cheaper to pay overtime than hire new employees because of the excessive benefits that come with new employees. There is some truth to this. Government employees can earn up to 12 weeks vacation pay,13 days holiday pay, sick pay, fully paid health insurance and a pension plan that can take more than $1 million to fund. LVRJ - 9/20/7 - "North Las Vegas, police OK contract - $22.1 million pact includes wages, leave and 'longevity' rules. 16% of the valley's public employees earned more than $100,000 per year even though this is more than twice the median household income in Las Vegas of $47,320 according to the 2006 Perspective. This $100,000 is calculated without pension cost of about 30% a year. Clark County overtime has increased 151% since 2002. Does it seem like our elected officials are trying to cut overtime costs? Pension payments to retirees are normally calculated by averaging the wage of the government employees by their last three years pay. What if you normally make $60,000 a years and you plan to retire in three years. A prudent employee would ask to work as much overtime as possible, You could possibly double your pension for the rest of your life by working an extra 20 to 30 hours a week overtime for three years. I would suggest that overtime would be disallowed as a basis for government pension payments. I would suggest that vacation and sick pay be limited to 4 weeks a year. I would suggest that paid holidays would be limited to 7 days a year. If an employee needs more time off, they can take it without pay with the approval of their supervisor. After all they earn more than double the median Las Vegas household income. Most of this information came from an article in the Las Vegas Sun titled "Overtime total jumps again" on August 3, 2007.