On a list of city employees who earned the most money last year, the mayor and many other elected officials are nowhere to be found. The list is dominated instead by the city's police officers and firefighters.
But this is likely a result of understaffing and increased overtime instead of high hourly wages, said Capt. Tom Pyle of the Athens Police Department, who made about $68,320 last year.
We use overtime everyday
he said. We've had to force people to work at least four times this week alone.
Of the 10 city employees who earned the most money in 2007, five were police lieutenants earning from about $70,800 to $92,580. Two were fire captains earning between $78,000 and $79,200. The city's police and fire chiefs, who are non-union employees, also made the top 10, earning $71,619.12 and $72,776.92 respectively.
If Athens police lieutenants work longer than a scheduled eight-hour shift or more than 40 hours a week, they're paid time-and-a-half for the extra hours, according to the labor agreement between the city and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Ohio Labor Council. Lieutenants are also paid overtime when they testify in court.
Overtime wages increase during Spring Quarter's busy weekends and when many officers take summer vacation, Pyle said.
While not using as much overtime as the police, the Athens Fire Department has similar problems with understaffing and uses a similar overtime system, said Fire Chief Robert Troxel. He added that large fires, which require extra firefighters, necessitate overtime but that such fires are rare.
Understaffing and overtime in public safety positions have been issues for some time, said Mayor Paul Wiehl, who earns $68,718 per year. The city has taken action to hire more police but have no plans at this time for additions to the fire department.
It's been a problem said Wiehl, who served on city council before being elected mayor. But the question is what you can afford.
The wages of most public safety officials result from long hours, said John Looman, deputy director of the Ohio FOP, which negotiates the Athens Police labor contracts.
It's like moonlighting ' moonlighting at the same job he said.
Several city employees are non-union employees whose pay is dictated by city council ordinances, said Kathy Hecht, the Athens city auditor who earned $55,716 last year. Such positions, which include the police and fire chiefs and the mayor, are given annual raises of about 3 percent until they reach a certain max-out level. The city council must approve further raises.
Getting the best and the brightest
Athens City Law Director Pat Lang, whose pay is based on a 30-hour work week and who will earn $57,408 in 2008, said his job description might be a little misleading.
I'm still waiting on that first 30-hour week
he said.
Many feel it's hard getting qualified people, particularly attorneys, to work in public offices when the pay might be better in the private sector, Lang said. But most public officials understand the importance of their work, Lang added, saying he knew his job would require long hours when he ran for office.
When it comes to some county officials, salaries are set by the state legislature according to county population. Elected offices such as county prosecutor ($115,703), sheriff ($69,372) and county auditor ($68,390) all have state-mandated salary levels, according to the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.
Some positions even have organizations that lobby for higher salaries at the county level. That's one function of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, said John Murphy, OPAA executive director.
These people are lawyers who have a lot of education
he said. And we want to make sure we keep good lawyers in the prosecutor's office.
The OPAA also works to keep prosecutor's salaries competitive with judges' to keep prosecutors from flocking to the bench, Murphy added.
But the Ohio judiciary has its own problems when it comes to setting salaries.
Many judges feel they're underpaid compared to their counterparts in other states, said L. Alan Goldsberry, Athens County Common Pleas judge. This prompts the state to cover most of a county judge's salary with funds from the Ohio Supreme Court.
All Ohio Common Pleas judges make $121,350 a year, but Athens County pays $11,200 for each of its three elected judges based on the county's population.
Athens County Municipal Judge William Grim earns money from both the city and county, with the state picking up $52,350 of his $114,100 salary.
One person who understands the concern of judges is Ohio State Representative Sandra Harwood, D-65th District. The ranking Democrat on the Ohio House Judiciary Committee and a lawyer herself, Harwood said it's hard to attract people to the bench as well as other public offices.
That need to get qualified people in the public sector pushes up salaries in government positions, Harwood said. Athens County Department of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities Superintendent Jody Harris made $85,149 in 2007. Athens County Department of Job and Family Services Administrator John Frech made $90,168 in 2007.
Such concerns are also behind Ohio House Bill 173, which would give county judges like Goldsberry a raise of about $20,000 by 2010. But the bill stands little chance of passing through committee because of Ohio's grim economic outlook, Harwood said.
We're just not going to be able to do that
she said. The money's just not there.
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