City employees earned nearly $711,000 in overtime pay before, after flooding

Columbia paid its employees nearly $711,000 for overtime hours worked during the flooding in October.

City employees from several departments pulled long hours during and after the historic rains and flooding on Oct. 4, working to return Columbia to normality despite damaged roads, buildings and water lines.

A spreadsheet provided to The State newspaper shows city employees worked more than 27,150 overtime hours from Oct. 1 to Oct. 16. Employees eligible to receive overtime pay were paid time and a half, city spokeswoman Leshia Utsey said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency could pay a minimum of 75 percent of Columbia’s overtime costs, Utsey said. Any remaining balance will be absorbed in the city’s budget or paid from reserves, she said.

Columbia’s fire and police departments combined to account for more than $467,000 of the overtime pay.

The Columbia Fire Department logged more than 8,860 overtime hours, more than any other city department, the spreadsheet shows. The Columbia Police Department wasn’t far behind, accounting for more than 8,780 overtime hours during the 16-day period.

The city’s solid waste department earned more than $41,700 in overtime pay. The water operations and emergency communications departments each earned more than $31,500 in overtime pay.

City wastewater maintenance employees earned nearly $28,200 in overtime pay.

Lexington County’s 1,500-member staff worked 9,500 hours of flood-related overtime that will cost $243,089 in extra pay, County Administrator Joe Mergo said.

That total is through Nov. 13 for public works employees keeping roads open, firefighters, deputies, ambulance crews and others. It doesn’t include overtime costs of staff in the county’s 14 municipalities or Irmo firefighters.

County officials are seeking reimbursement for the money from federal disaster officials.

Richland County cannot yet provide its flood-related overtime costs, spokeswoman Beverly Harris said.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 6:16 PM.