LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
SENATE, No. 1862
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
DATED: JUNE 29, 2021
SUMMARY
|
Synopsis: |
Requires Commissioner of Corrections to institute 30-minute shift overlap in State correctional facilities. |
|
Type of Impact: |
Annual State expenditure increase. |
|
Agencies Affected: |
Department of Corrections. |
|
Department of Corrections Estimate |
||||
|
Fiscal Impact |
|
Annually |
|
|
|
State Expenditure Increase |
|
$30,255,609 |
|
|
|
|
|
|||
· The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concurs with the Department of Corrections (DOC) that this bill will increase State expenditures. The DOC estimates that a 30-minute shift overlap would cost approximately $30.3 million to the State. The bill would require the Commissioner of the DOC to institute a shift overlap of a 30-minute duration in each of the 13 correctional facilities in the State for the purpose of information dissemination between corrections officers beginning and ending their shifts.
BILL DESCRIPTION
This bill requires the Commissioner of Corrections to institute a 30-minute shift overlap in each of the 13 correctional facilities in this State for the purpose of information dissemination between corrections officers beginning and ending their shifts.
Under the program of shift overlap established in the bill, a corrections officer whose shift has ended would be required to remain at his or her post for 30 minutes after the end of the shift to report what happened during that shift to the incoming officer.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
The Executive Branch has not submitted a formal fiscal note on this bill. However, the DOC has indicated informally that the estimated, annual cost for a 30-minute shift overlap would be approximately $30.3 million. The DOC estimate is based on 5,464 correctional police officers with different hourly rates ranging from $52.25 for senior officers and $77.79 for correctional police lieutenants. The per facility cost estimate varies for the 13 correctional facilities, from approximately $4.2 million for New Jersey State Prison to approximately $1.3 million for Mid-State Correctional Facility.
|
|
Senior Correctional Police Officer |
Correctional Police Sergeant |
Correctional Police Lieutenant |
Total |
|
Average Custody FTE Filled(a/oFY21- PP26) |
4,735 |
468 |
261 |
5,464 |
|
Annual Overlap Hours |
|
|
|
101.50 |
|
Total Hours by Rank |
480,603 |
47,502 |
26,492 |
554,596 |
|
Hourly Overtime Rate (a/o FY21-PP26) |
$52.25 |
$64.91 |
$77.79 |
|
|
Projected Annual Overlap Cost |
$25,111,481 |
$3,083,355 |
$2,060,774 |
$30,255,609 |
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS concurs with the DOC estimate. To provide context, in response to a fiscal note request for Senate bill 2687 of the 2006/2007 session, the DOC noted that in FY 2007, a daily shift overlap period of 15 minutes was implemented for designated shift overlap post assignments, with a total appropriation of $12,685,875. Increasing the shift overlap time to 30 minutes as mandated by this bill would more than double the expense with inflation factored in.
According to the Assembly Prison Gang Violence Task Force final report, issued December 12, 2006, the DOC historically provided for shift overlap periods of up to 30 minutes, but gradually reduced these periods until they were ultimately phased out altogether due to budget constraints.
|
Section: |
Judiciary |
|
Analyst: |
Associate Research Analyst |
|
Approved: |
Thomas Koenig Legislative Budget and Finance Officer |
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).