City Payroll Continues to Increase

The City’s payroll has increased by nearly $23 million since 2010, and the numbers of those earning more than $200,000 a year doubled from two to four in 2014.

The City released its complete payroll figures last week and it revealed an ever-increasing payroll that is knocking on the $100 million mark – coming in at $92.83 million in total.

The overall payroll sat at $70.662 million in 2010, and increased to $86.41 million in 2013. The year-to-year increase for 2014 showed the payroll up by $6.4 million.

Of note, another significant portion of the payroll comes from police details, which are not completely funded by City dollars. Details in 2014 were up by more than $1 million over 2013, at $3.36 million in total. Almost all police salaries on the list include police details, which is a blend of mostly private – and some public – monies. Police and Fire personnel who work details do that over and above the hours put in for their normal shifts.

Of the top earners, four earned more than $200,000, and 168 employees earned more than $100,000.

The first person to earn more than $200,000 came in 2011, while the first person to earn more than $100,000 came in 2001.

The Top 100 highest earners on the list included 45 police officers, 24 firefighters, 22 school employees and seven City Hall/DPW employees.

In 2014, the top earner was Supt. Paul Dakin – who has held that distinction reluctantly for the last few years. Dakin came in at $229,000 in 2014, which was $6,660 over his 2013 salary.

“It is a lot of money and has been a lot of money,” said Dakin. “I’m grateful the community pays for the amount of time I’ve put in – which is in line with other comparable salaries when the superintendent has stayed as long as I have. That’s something that’s appreciated.”

Dakin may, however, be seeing his final years on the list, as he will be retiring this coming December.

Meanwhile, second on the list was Police Capt. Terence Reardon – the former police chief in Revere. Reardon, by an anomaly created through the buyout of his chief’s contract, was the first person to ever make more than $300,000 from the City of Revere. That, certainly, was a one-time situation, and in 2014 he came in at $220,050 – with $80,032 of that amount coming from details.

Reardon said his salary comes due to the fact that there is a lot of opportunity to work – especially details.

“By and large, it’s because there are a lot of details,” he said. “The reason behind it all is there are so few cops and the opportunity to work is rife…Me, being the captain who doesn’t have an opportunity to work overtime, my hours are all details. Patrol officers have an opportunity to work details or overtime. They often prefer to work overtime because they get paid faster and some get paid more. The opportunity to work is there, and I take it.”

Rounding out the top three earners was Police Chief Joe Cafarelli.

Cafarelli contacted the Journal and said the salary was in line with chiefs of police – which are routinely highly paid in cities and towns. However, he wasn’t able to elaborate extensively on the pay due to overseeing the consecutive storms this week and last.

Cafarelli earned $218,431 in 2014, which was $19,712 over his salary in 2013. Since his first year on the job, in 2012, his salary is up by $53,000.

Reardon, by comparison, made $172,408 in his last full year on the job, in 2011.

This year, once again, perennial police detail champion Louis LaRosa kept his title, bringing in $85,544 in detail pay. Reardon was second on that list.

Other notable salary moves included Fire Chief Gene Doherty, who came in at $197,963 in 2014, which was a $32,925 raise over 2013.

Mayor Dan Rizzo came in at $136,298 in 2014, which was a raise of $4,942 over 2013. Over the past two years, his salary has increased by $18,533.

Conversely, Economic Development Director John Festa took a significant decrease in pay in 2014 – mostly due to losing grant funding.

Festa took in $96,409 in 2013, but only $79,407 in 2014 – a decrease of $17,002.

The lowest rung on the payroll in 2014 belonged to Elizabeth Gutierrez, who made $24 as a part-time hourly employee. Just ahead of her was Luis Zamora who made $24.28 as a bus monitor.

 

City Council Payroll (including longevity and expenses) –

Ward 2 Ira Novoselsky –                                  $23,045

Ward 6 Charlie Patch –                                    $23,045

Ward 5 John Powers –                                     $23,045

At-Large Bob Haas –                                        $21,644

Ward 3 Arthur Guinasso –                              $20,444

At-Large Tony Zambuto –                               $20,108

Ward 1 Richard Penta –                                  $17,694

At-Large Brian Arrigo –                                  $16,244

At-Large Jessica Giannino –                        $16,244

At-Large Stephen Reardon –                        $16,244

At-Large Steven Morabito –                         $16,244