ALBANY - The State Thruway Authority paid millions of dollars in overtime to its employees last year - nearly doubling some of their salaries.
An analysis done by The Buffalo News found that 200 Thruway employees made more than $10,000 each in overtime.
For example, an operator at the Tappan Zee Bridge nearly doubled his earnings when he received $32,317 in overtime, according to the paper. A toll collector in Albany earned $26,175 in overtime.
The agency spent about $8.7 million on employee overtime in 2006, out of an approximately $762.2 million total budget, said Michael Fleischer, executive director of the Thruway Authority. The overtime amounts to only 1.1 percent of the overall budget, but some lawmakers are still upset about the amount of overtime paid out and a proposed toll increase.
U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, of Buffalo, said it's a sign of mismanagement.
“I'm all for fair and reasonable compensation, but when a public authority is abusing its autonomy we need to hold that public authority in check,” he said. “The best way to do that, at least initially, is to have greater oversight.”
Thruway Authority officials are expected to vote on a package that recommends proceeding with a previously approved increase averaging 10 percent in January, followed by 5 percent increases in each of the following two years. The vote was temporarily postponed.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is auditing the Thruway Authority to determine if the hike is essential.
“It increases the cost of doing business,” he said. “It has an impact on commerce, it has an effect on people commuting.”
DiNapoli said the overtime pay did not play into his decision to audit the agency.
Fleischer said the agency's overtime spending has been static since 1996. In the same period, the agency has eliminated 450 full-time staff positions.
“Which, in context, I think shows the authority is managing its costs and the use of overtime,” Fleischer said. “We think the way we're using it is more cost efficient than hiring more personnel.”
Officials said most of the overtime is spent on sending employees out to deal with snow and ice in the winter and dealing with accidents on the highway. Fleischer said it doesn't make sense to hire more people for such sporadic needs.
For example, the Tappan Zee “Bridge patrol operator's overtime earnings amount to less than an added permanent bridge patrol operator's year round salary,” Authority spokeswoman Betsy Graham said.
The 2008 agency projection doesn't show a budget shortfall, but the authority will face future financial gaps - starting in 2009 - if tolls are not increased, Fleischer said.
Fleischer said the Thruway Authority needs the toll hike to meet a previously proposed $2.6 billion capital improvements project. The Thruway's last toll increase was May 2005.
The problem is state traffic was projected to generate enough money in tolls with a 2.3 percent annual traffic growth. As gas prices have gone up, fewer people are traveling, and Fleischer said actual traffic growth was about .5 percent for 2007. That's expected to go up to 1.3 percent in 2008 - but it's still less than is needed, he said.
“There are no free roads,” Fleischer said. “Roads do not plow themselves, they do not repair themselves.”
For example, an operator at the Tappan Zee Bridge nearly doubled his earnings when he received $32,317 in overtime, according to the paper. A toll collector in Albany earned $26,175 in overtime.
The agency spent about $8.7 million on employee overtime in 2006, out of an approximately $762.2 million total budget, said Michael Fleischer, executive director of the Thruway Authority. The overtime amounts to only 1.1 percent of the overall budget, but some lawmakers are still upset about the amount of overtime paid out and a proposed toll increase.
U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, of Buffalo, said it's a sign of mismanagement.
“I'm all for fair and reasonable compensation, but when a public authority is abusing its autonomy we need to hold that public authority in check,” he said. “The best way to do that, at least initially, is to have greater oversight.”
Thruway Authority officials are expected to vote on a package that recommends proceeding with a previously approved increase averaging 10 percent in January, followed by 5 percent increases in each of the following two years. The vote was temporarily postponed.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is auditing the Thruway Authority to determine if the hike is essential.
“It increases the cost of doing business,” he said. “It has an impact on commerce, it has an effect on people commuting.”
DiNapoli said the overtime pay did not play into his decision to audit the agency.
Fleischer said the agency's overtime spending has been static since 1996. In the same period, the agency has eliminated 450 full-time staff positions.
“Which, in context, I think shows the authority is managing its costs and the use of overtime,” Fleischer said. “We think the way we're using it is more cost efficient than hiring more personnel.”
Officials said most of the overtime is spent on sending employees out to deal with snow and ice in the winter and dealing with accidents on the highway. Fleischer said it doesn't make sense to hire more people for such sporadic needs.
For example, the Tappan Zee “Bridge patrol operator's overtime earnings amount to less than an added permanent bridge patrol operator's year round salary,” Authority spokeswoman Betsy Graham said.
The 2008 agency projection doesn't show a budget shortfall, but the authority will face future financial gaps - starting in 2009 - if tolls are not increased, Fleischer said.
Fleischer said the Thruway Authority needs the toll hike to meet a previously proposed $2.6 billion capital improvements project. The Thruway's last toll increase was May 2005.
The problem is state traffic was projected to generate enough money in tolls with a 2.3 percent annual traffic growth. As gas prices have gone up, fewer people are traveling, and Fleischer said actual traffic growth was about .5 percent for 2007. That's expected to go up to 1.3 percent in 2008 - but it's still less than is needed, he said.
“There are no free roads,” Fleischer said. “Roads do not plow themselves, they do not repair themselves.”
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