Boston’s highest paid city employees earn approx. $300,000

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2016/10/18/bostons-highest-paid-city-employees-earn-300000/

The city of Boston’s highest paid employees earn on average about $314,000 and are overwhelmingly made up of mid-level officers in the police department, according to data provided by the mayor’s office.

But the highest paid was a teacher, Emilio Cabanas. His actual salary was just $36,154 but a $353,673 legal settlement propelled him to the top of the list, according to media reports.

The data shows what city employees made for the fiscal year ran that ran from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015. It is the most recently available information of its kind for the city. Overall, the city paid out $1.5 billion in salaries and cash benefits for that year to 21,902 listed employees, making for an average income of $70,856.

But the highest paid city workers earned several times that. Many of them are police officers whose combination of low six figure regular salaries, overtime pay, and compensation for details catapulted them ahead of their superiors in terms of total earnings.

For example, the 10th highest paid employee Martin Joseph had a regular salary of $119,989. But he also racked up $36,661 in overtime and $131,751 in detail pay. As a result, his total earnings for the year stood at $289,226. About seven out of the 10 highest paid are police officers who appear to be in similar situations.

Such salaries are far higher than what their bosses make. For example, Boston Police Chief William Gross earned a total of $193,751 for the same year. (His position is technically designated as “Superintendent in Chief.”) Commissioner William Evans was paid $207,017, and ranked as the 232nd highest paid city employee.




The mayor makes even less. City records put his total income at $181,730, the 497th spot in the city salary list.

One department head does make the list: interim schools Superintendent John McDonough. Under his contract, his regular pay was $169,263. Other unspecified payments added $168,476, bringing his total for the year to $337,740.

The only other non-police officer among the top 10 is John Hasson, the chief of field services for the fire department. Most of his $298,027 in total earnings for the year is reportedly due to a $187,453 payout for unused sick and vacation time.

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