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14 <br /> <br /> <br />Commissioner McKee asked if the difference in the overtime is without the additional five <br />positions. <br />Travis Myren said yes. <br />Commissioner McKee asked if the blue bar is with the five new positions. <br />Travis Myren said the blue bar is tied back to the original request for 10 new positions, <br />and with 5 new positions, it would be somewhere between the two colors on the bar graph. <br />Commissioner McKee asked if, given the differential in the hours, it would be worth it to <br />fund a few more positions instead of paying overtime. <br />Travis Myren said the budget is not currently at a level that can pay for all the overtime, <br />and it runs over by around $100,000. He said the recommendation is to try adding 5 more <br />positions first, and then come back and review. <br />Travis Myren said this recommendation can hold the overtime budget where it is, and <br />bring in new positions, as opposed to moving money from the overtime account into the <br />personnel account to fund new positions, as there are not funds in the overtime account to do <br />this. <br />Commissioner McKee said there are 4 out of 6 years of major overtime costs, which <br />would almost equal two positions. He said if they are consistently running in the $100,000 in <br />overtime costs, and would it not be prudent to hire two more positions, and hopefully have less <br />wear and tear on the current employees? <br />Travis Myren said the 10,000 hours equates to about 5 FTEs. <br />Commissioner McKee said he is not suggesting 5, and at some point he would like to <br />look at the alternatives to overtime. <br />Commissioner Dorosin asked if the overtime is equal to five positions, and therefore is <br />being recommended to alleviate the overtime. <br />Bonnie Hammersley said yes. <br />Commissioner McKee said the money is being spent either way, and asked the Sheriff if <br />this amount of overtime is affecting employees. <br />Sheriff Blackwood said that is a hard question to answer, and he said they allow their <br />employees to work overtime for other entities (e.g.: UNC sporting events), and the overtime pay <br />that goes out comes back to the County from these overtime entities. He said he would make a <br />respectful recommendation to try out 5 new positions first. He said it is his opinion that 10 new <br />positions would eliminate all overtime cost issues, but overtime must be considered in two <br />different categories: what is actually being paid out in overtime hours, and then that which is <br />coming back to the County. He said the County is blessed to have the service of Travis Myren, <br />and while there is a real need for 10 positions, he would like to start with 5. <br />Commissioner McKee said he is okay with that, and he was not accounting for monies <br />paid in accounting for the money paid out.