ALBANY – Understaffing in New York’s beleaguered state prisons helped drive the state’s massive overtime spending to the tune of $445 million — even before Gov. Kathy Hochul canned thousands more corrections officers amid an illegal strike earlier this year.
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision was the worst offender across state agencies in 2024, notching a nearly 21% increase in overtime costs compared to the year prior, according to a new report from the New York comptroller’s office.
State agencies overall continued to ramp up overtime spending last year by an eye-watering 10%, or nearly $1.3 billion, from 2023, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s report found.
The DOCCS, the state’s Office for People With Developmental Disabilities and the Office of Mental Health together accounted for roughly two-thirds of the overtime shelled out in 2024.
And that was even prior to a massive illegal strike earlier this year that saw roughly 2,000 corrections officers canned, and a massive increase in spending.
“Since 2023, the Corrections workforce has decreased by over 1,000. These combined factors indicate that a smaller pool of Corrections employees are working substantially more overtime hours to meet operational demands,” DiNapoli’s report reads.
A spokesman for the agency said the 2024 overtime spike “was driven by the ongoing staffing crisis and the need to maintain the safety of staff and the incarcerated, while continuing to offer mandated programs, as well as other essential activities and services within DOCCS correctional facilities.”
Hochul’s budget office estimates the cost of running the prisons post-strike could reach upwards of $100 million per month as the system is still suffering from being massively short-staffed.
That estimate includes overtime for corrections officers as well as the cost of backfilling understaffed facilities with national guard troops and other impacts.
“It’s no surprise to see this,” state Sen. George Borello (Chautauqua) told The Post.
“The dangerous conditions created by pro-criminal laws passed by Democrats in state legislature combined with inept leadership of Gov. Hochul comes and a big cost. Not just dollars but in morale and public safety,” Borello said.
After the DOCCS, the agencies with the largest overtime costs last year were the state police, the Department of Transportation and the State University of New York.
The state’s massive state workforce overall increased by about 5,300 workers in 2024 – a 3.7% growth rate from the year prior per the report.
“Overtime continued to grow in 2024 despite increases to a workforce that remains below pre-pandemic staffing levels,” DiNapoli wrote in a statement.
“New York needs to continue to attract and retain a range of diverse employees, and agencies need to ensure the use of overtime hours is justified and services are delivered safely and effectively for residents,” he said.
