FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Last month’s announcement that City employees would be pulling double-duty to take care of duties missed by the city’s trash contractor, Red River Waste Solutions, came with the promise that it wouldn’t cost taxpayers anything.

But a couple of City employees say that’s not entirely true.

Street Department employee Jeff Tipton tells our Partners in News at ABC 21 he’s had to do Red River’s job, such as emptying garbage trucks, on city time. That means your taxes paid for it.

“They came to me, the street commissioner, and he told me to go take the garbage truck, the Park Department garbage truck, which was full, and go empty it. On city time,” Tipton says.

Employees who take care of Red River’s missed pickups are supposed to be paid using the money collected from the hundreds of thousands of dollars Red River has been fined since taking over in January 2018.

Public Works Director Shan Gunawardena says city employees should never do Red River-related business on the clock, but adds that supervisors do have the discretion to have employees do additional work during downtime.