Controller disputes comparison

Nevada Controller Kim Wallin has publicly disagreed with a Reno Gazette-Journal analysis of government overtime, at least as it applies to her office.

Wallin, elected in 2006, said her office’s overtime has actually gone down, not up as the newspaper reported. She attributed the difference to the newspaper comparing overtime figures for the last six months of 2009 to the previous six months instead of to the same period of 2008.

“We are just like H&R Block in that they are busy from January to April preparing taxes, and we are busy from July to December preparing the labor-intensive, time-consuming, and statutorily required Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR),” Wallin said in a prepared statement. “In fact, the overtime in 2009 by the CAFR team was down 29 percent from 2008 and is the lowest amount of hours spent in the last 11 years.”

This cyclical pattern, she said, has been true for many years. The main difference this year was a decline in overtime from the previous year.