Danvers Police Dominate List of Top Town Earners in 2012

This is the second part in a series looking at town employee salaries in 2012. Stay tuned tomorrow for a breakdown of School Department employee salaries.

The second top earner on the town of Danvers payroll in 2012 was Police Sgt. Paul Stone at $187,635, .

Stone and 16 members of the Police Department were in fact among the top 25 earners in town, their ranks only separated by several other senior town employees, such as Superintendent of Schools Lisa Dana and Danvers Electric Distribution Supervisor Jeffrey King.

In all, 26 officers earned more than $100,000 last year, along with 10 firefighters, 14 Danvers Electric employees and several department heads and school administrators.

It’s not uncommon for police officers to dominate the list of top earners among municipal employees, no matter the community, but it’s not because they rake in higher salaries than town officials. Police officers add to their generally modest salaries with detail pay, overtime and compensation under the Quinn Bill.

The legislation allows officers to be paid for advanced degrees and training they undergo during the course of their careers. The town also does not pay for traffic or safety details at private construction projects or events — only public ones.

For example, Stone earned $55,574 in overtime and $30,077 in detail pay in addition to his regular salary and $17,410 in Quinn Bill compensation for a grand total of $187,635. On the other hand, officer James George, who is 244th on the list, earned $7,731 in overtime, no detail pay and $5,852 under the Quinn Bill in addition to his salary for a total of $79,448.

Chief Neil Ouellette is eligible for Quinn Bill benefits, but is not paid for overtime and doesn’t work details. He received $27,131 under the Quinn Bill in addition to his salary for gross earnings of $137,345 in 2012.

Firefighters do receive overtime and detail pay for certain hazardous situations that require oversight, but they have no comparative Quinn Bill measure.

Lt. Francis Toomey (14th), who is also the fire alarm specialist, added to his income with $43,908 in overtime for gross pay of $131,885. The next firefighter on the list is Chief Kevin Farrell (30th), who earned $118,599.

The following chart shows police and fire personnel that cracked $100,000: