A tentative deal between Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and the leadership of the police union would guarantee $245 million in cash overtime pay for officers, locking in substantial personnel costs just as law enforcement spending is under major scrutiny.
To get the union to postpone two pay raises, Garcetti has offered officers at the Los Angeles Police Department a minimum of $70 million in overtime pay in each of the next three budget years. On top of that, officers would be permitted in the final year of the contract to cash out as much as $35 million in overtime pay for hours they’ve already worked, but for which they have not been compensated.
The latter deal point stems from a little-known budgeting practice called overtime banking, which the LAPD uses to pay for personnel costs when the money isn’t immediately available.
Under that system, officers work overtime hours but frequently aren’t paid for those hours until years in the future — usually when they retire or leave the department, when their salaries are considerably higher.
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