Halifax auditor general's overtime report delayed until next month

The latest look at Halifax's overtime costs will be kept under wraps until mid-December.

Municipal Auditor General Larry Munroe was supposed to make a presentation to this month's meeting of the audit and finance committee on Wednesday.

It would have been the third time he addressed municipal overtime since he opened his office six years ago, but the city's chief administrative officer asked for an extension.

"The report is complete," said Munroe. "We've gone through the vetting process through to the CAO. He's just asked for a bit more time to respond back, which is a very reasonable request."

The city's second-quarter 2015/2016 financial report highlighted several areas where overtime rose significantly: 

• Fire services overtime up $2.5 million
• Police up $773,000
• Transit up $179,000    

Deputy Mayor Matt Whitman questioned the move to delay the auditor general's most recent findings.

"I don't think it's going to be good news in the report, or else we would have tackled the good news today rather than in December," said Whitman. 

Committee chair Bill Karsten said overtime is "part of doing business."

"I am confident that our CAO is doing everything possible to keep overtime in control," he said.

This fall, CBC News obtained documents through a Freedom of Information request that showed Halifax spent just over $12 million in overtime in 2014. Just under half of that amount went to transit workers.  

Bus drivers blamed the costs on the lack of winter tires. They insist when buses get stuck, and passengers are taken off, drivers have to remain with the vehicle.

City officials told CBC News then that overtime is a "fact of life."

Millions spent on overtime

Munroe's first report on overtime" came out in 2010. Those findings showed city employees had earned $50 million in overtime over a three-year period.

Transportation and Public Works, which included both transit and winter operations at the time, accounted for almost half of the overtime costs with only 30 per cent of the workers.

The auditor general made 14 recommendations to improve the situation, including reducing overtime by a minimum of 10 per cent. City managers agreed with almost all of them.

The latest report is a follow-up to see if the recommendations have been implemented.

A separate AG report on "overtime drivers" done at the end of 2011 found that transit, public works and police accounted for most of the city's overtime costs.  

That work focused on absences due to sick leave, scheduled vacation and employee turnover.

The second report had 19 recommendations involving training, scheduling practicing and support to reduce sick time, particularly amongst transit employees.