A Palmerton resident has questioned the police department’s overtime hours, including a grievance filed on behalf of an officer regarding overtime pay.

Raberta Hans told borough council on Thursday her concerns stem from not only the amount of overtime hours police officers have been working, but also several grievances that have been filed since the start of the new year.

Hans questioned how many officers the police department has. Chief Tim Kromer responded it has 10, including himself.

Next, Hans asked who approves officers’ overtime hours. Kromer said he does.

Hans then asked why the borough is so concerned about overtime hours.

Borough Manager Autumn Canfield said the borough cannot address that because it’s currently in litigation.

“As a taxpayer, I feel we have a right to know why there’s so much overtime,” Hans said. “I’m asking (you) to explain what’s the concern.”

Councilman Andrew Hollywood explained the reason why there’s overtime is if an officer is off, plans have to be made to cover their shifts, and added that hiring more officers wouldn’t eliminate that concern.

Kromer noted this wasn’t an issue in the past because the department had part-time officers.

He said the department hasn’t had part-time officers for several years, and added that in the past two years, there have been only two applications received for part-time officers.

Councilman Kris Hoffner said that the last time they did a Civil Service Test, they only had two applications for full-time officers.

Hoffner said the borough tried to raise the salary to entice part-time officers to work for the department.

Hans questioned how much borough has to pay its labor lawyer. Council said the amount is not known at this time.

“I’ve been here quite a while, and I don’t know that I’ve ever been through (arbitration),” council President Terry Costenbader said. “This is (kind of like) new water.”

Hans then asked council what its contingency plan is if no one can cover the shift. The police chief said he would cover it.

“The mayor of this community runs the police department; the chief works under the mayor,” Costenbader said. “You don’t want me to micromanage ...”

Hans also mentioned several grievances that have been filed. Four police grievances have been filed against the borough since the start of the new year.

In January, the Palmerton Police Benevolent Association filed a grievance against the Palmerton Borough Personnel Committee on behalf of an officer who it claims was denied overtime pay.

The benevolent association said the grievance is in reference to Palmerton Borough’s failure to pay an officer their overtime rate working overtime outside of their regular scheduled shift as defined in the collective bargaining agreement.

Palmerton Benevolent Association claims the grievance is in connection with a violation of the bargaining agreement effective from Jan. 1, 2024, to Dec. 31, 2026.

The grievance pertains to an incident involving officer Derek Koch, who was denied overtime pay.

On Jan. 6 och was scheduled to work a regularly scheduled shift after previously working an extra shift on Dec. 31 (a holiday) out of the context of his normal work schedule.

According to the agreement, any hours worked in excess of the regular 10-hour shift 40-hour workweek, including attendance at required training sessions, participation in judicial, legislative, or administrative proceedings, and associated transportation times, must be compensated at a rate of one-and-a-half-times the officer’s hourly rate.

The association said the contractual language specifically defines “overtime,” which shall be work in excess of his regular 10-hour shift, or 40 hours per week.

The association maintains that officer Koch’s time worked on Jan. 6 beyond his regularly scheduled hours should have been computed as overtime, irrespective of any time off taken during the same pay week.

Earlier this month, three more grievances were filed against the borough; one on behalf of an officer who has been directed to obtain a doctor’s note, an incident involving officer Trevor Flexer, who was denied overtime pay contrary to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and an incident in which officer Shawn Leadbetter used three hours of compensatory time in a 40-hour workweek.

Canfield has declined to comment on any of the grievances because she said she considers them to be personnel issues.