A new report from CBS San Francisco shows that firefighters in the City of San Ramon made as much as $400,000 in 2015. In part because of excessive overtime, more than half of the department’s employees are taking home over $300,000 in compensation a year.
The figures are sparking outrage among taxpayer advocacy groups but, according to the city’s fire chief, there’s more than meets the eye. Dolling out mass overtime can be a lot cheaper than hiring additional firefighters, Chief Paige Meyers said.
Meyers points out that the figures include compensation and benefits. “So, if someone makes $1, we ending up close to spending 90 cents for their pension, so that’s $1.90, roughly,” the chief said. “And then we also have the costs of healthcare.”
Allowing existing employees to work longer hours can result in savings of 25 to 30 percent says Meyers because of the health and pension benefits given to new hires. It seems like a great way to gain a broken system. It also seems incredibly unsafe.
Welcome to the new normal.