NEWBURGH – Overtime costs in the police and fire departments are “bankrupting” the City of Newburgh and Mayor Torrance Harvey is pushing for creation of a public safety commissioner to oversee both departments.
The city is facing as many as 25 layoffs between the two departments, in large part due to overtime costs and Harvey said a commissioner would be tasked with reining in OT.
“That individual would do a complete staff analysis of both police and fire and provide the oversight needed to trim down this overtime which is bankrupting the city,” he said. “These are the facts. I came in to city council to clean up city hall; I came in to city council to get rid of corruption and be transparent.”
To make his point, Harvey pointed to the acting fire chief whose base salary is about $86,000, but with overtime in 2018, it was up to $231,523.
The mayor is also annoyed with the fact that most public service employees do not live in the city. “They take their money and leave,” he said.
