Gympie Council CEO Shane Gray: $890k overtime bill ‘within budget’

A staff overtime bill of almost $900,000 has been defended by Gympie council CEO Shane Gray, with details on how it compares to previous years.

Gympie Regional Council workers have accrued almost $900,000 in overtime wages this financial year, but CEO Shane Gray says the final bill is still within budget. Picture: Craig Warhurst / The Gympie Times

An almost $900,000 overtime bill for the financial year to the end of April has been defended by Gympie Regional Council CEO Shane Gray as being well within the amount expected.

Figures provided through the council’s Transparency Hub reveal staff have been paid $891,319 in overtime between July 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021.

Mr Gray said the bill to date was $100,000 within the council’s expected $35.8m budget for staff for the financial year.

He was not concerned about the amount accrued but said “this is a budget item which is constantly monitored”.

Gympie Regional Council CEO Shane Gray.

Overtime work carried out by council staff can include repairing water mains and other infrastructure needed to maintain service levels.

The total overtime bill appears to be on track to be less than what was paid in the 2019-20 year.

The council’s figures show in that financial year $771,100 in overtime was paid to staff.

However, Mr Gray said this did not reflect the full financial year.

He said a new financial reporting system was introduced “to enable more accurate financial information reporting”.

This resulted in overtime for the first four months of the period being rolled into the full staffing bill.

The council did not separate overtime payments out from other staff wage and entitlements paid in any of its previous annual reports.