Police dominate Swampscott payroll

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a week-long series of stories about municipal salaries in the Greater Lynn area.SWAMPSCOTT – Eight of the top 10 salary earners in Swampscott last year are members of the police department, with Police Lt. Thomas Stephens topping the town’s 2010 salary list by earning $154,011.Both Town Administrator Andrew Maylor and Police Chief Ronald Madigan said the high salaries come from many officers working overtime and private details, and the latter are often paid by companies, not the town.”What distinguishes police officers is their, in essence, second job is reported on the same W2 as their primary job,” said Maylor. “If you remove those (overtime and private detail) figures, you would see some changes in the order of the list.”Two members of the Police Department earned more than $100,000 in base salary: Police Chief Madigan earned $131,948 in 2010, while Captain John Alex earned $119,194.Stephens’ base salary totaled $97,427; he earned $43,108 for overtime and $13,475 in private details.In gross salary, however, 14 members of the police department (excluding Madigan and Alex) and five members of the fire department accumulated enough overtime and private detail work to receive more than $100,000 in total salary in 2010.Madigan said that the overtime figures reflected a conscious decision to not replace retiring officers with new hires. He said that the department had 36 officers when he became chief in 2001, while today there are 32.”Part of not filling those positions is recognizing that it’s less costly to pay overtime than to pay salaries and benefits, including health costs,” Madigan said.”It’s a good town, a safe town that borders two cities and I think it’s an excellent force. And to maintain it, there’s a cost? They work the hours, and their base salaries are comparable to those in other towns,” he said.Nevertheless, Selectman David Van Dam said that one of the goals of the recently announced regional dispatch agreement with Lynn was to “minimize overtime and save taxpayers money,” by re-allocating the time officers’ spent on dispatch to more specialized tasks.Fire Chief Kevin Breen, who made $94,554 as a deputy chief last year and now makes $103,500, said that the combined dispatch with Lynn “did help somewhat with overtime,” for the fire department when it adopted the system about 10 years ago.Breen echoed many of Madigan’s statements about the impact of overtime, saying that the salary levels were overall fair.”Now it’s more of a balancing act,” Breen explained. “Some financial people say have fewer overtime costs and hire more, others say keep the overtime because of the cost of benefits.”Breen added that the recession only makes this balancing act more difficult, as municipal salaries get more scrutiny.”Municipal salaries tend to be, generally speaking, flatter,” Breen said. “When times are booming and people (in the private sector) are getting bonuses and raises, municipal employees are getting 2 percent, and then in bad times it maybe evens out a little.”Both chiefs also noted that overtime was a part of running a 24/7 operation. Maylor said the list of salaries was also unique due to new hires last year.Maylor said that a town’s highest salary is typically earned by the superintendent of schools.However, School Superintendent Lynne Celli was hired in June, so the $94,154 she earned in 2010 reflects only a portion of her $160,000 salary for 2011. The 2011 salary would move Celli from No. 44 to the top of the list.Interim Superintendent Maureen Bingham was paid $133,994 last year, putting her third on the list.Bingham said she returned to her role as assistant superintendent for student and instructional services upon Celli’s hire, where she makes $119,151. Bingham said that the position also incorporates special-education responsibilities and noted many school districts hire a separate special-education director.Maylor himself was fourth on the list, earning $133,262 in his eig