Controller: Streets employees overpaid by $120,000

City Controller Alan Butkovitz issued an audit of the city's Streets Department Wednesday that found overpayment of $120,000 in overtime between 2006 and 2009.

The Controller's auditors found that some workers who put in a 7.5-hour day were paid ovtertime, when the overtime meter should start running at 8 hours.

"Workers starting at 8:30 a.m. and taking a one-hour lunch were receiving overtime after 5 p.m., instead of after 5:30 p.m.," the news release said.

The Controller's office, "using computer assisted technique," determined that $120,000 was overpaid, mostly in half-hour increments.

"After interviews with the Streets Department's unit that prepared the payroll, it was discovered that the staff, including the unit's supervisor, were misinformed about the proper application of the civil service regulation for overtime.  The staff believed it was proper to start paying overtime immediately after an employee worked only 7.5 hours," according to the Controller's Office.

The overpayments stopped in 2009, once the department became aware of the problem, Butkovitz said.

The audit is available at www.philadelphiacontroller.org