Dormont's Top Grossing Employee Made Nearly $146K In 2010

Three of 's 12 police officers made more than $100,000 last year - with one sergeant earning nearly $146,000.

That made Sgt. James Burke, a 24-year veteran, the borough's top paid employee. Another sergeant, Ralf Zawischa, made more than $131,000 and patrolman Tom Madden made over $108,400.

By contrast, Chief Phil Ross made about $99,900 and the borough's lowest-paid full-time employee, the police secretary, made about $27,700, according to borough records.

Burke earned a base salary of $75,468 - the same for all four Dormont sergeants.

But overtime, holiday pay, longevity pay, education pay and selling back unused sick and vacation time can add significantly to an employee’s paycheck – in Burke’s case, roughly $70,000.

Burke declined to comment on his pay last year over the phone Thursday night, but said he would explain Friday afternoon.

Borough employee salaries are public record and the borough intends to publish the salaries of all full-time employees in its next quarterly newsletter.

“I think people, because they’re taxpayers and pay everybody’s salaries, need to know this,” Manager Gino Rizza said.

According to the latest U.S. Census estimates, Dormont has about 8,500 residents and a median household income of $45,475 in 2009 inflation-adjusted dollars.

Council at its Legal and Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday directed that the newsletter be published without names. Dormont-Brookline Patch requested the names Wednesday and obtained them, listed by first initial and last name, Thursday.

Rizza, who was hired in 2009, earned $68,067 last year – $66,500 in salary and the rest from selling back unused sick and vacation time.

The newsletter will also contain a state-of-the-borough report, Rizza said.

He declined to specify what the report would contain other than to say the borough needs to bring in some development and work on infrastructure, such as road repair.

"We have tens of millions of dollars of streets and alleys to fix," he said.

The release of the information is not intended to single anyone out, Rizza said.

"My salary's on there," he said.

He would not say if he thought there were any overtime problems.

"We can let the citizens, the taxpayer, decide that," he said.

“There’s no doubt that council and management are for public safety,” Rizza said, adding, however, that costs have to be controlled.

Police Chief Phil Ross did not immediately respond to several messages seeking comment.

The police department has a chief, 12 officers and a secretary. Ross, the chief, also patrols the borough.

The base patrolman wage in Dormont was $68,607 last year. That presumes five years’ experience; officers with less than five years are paid a prorated salary.

Comparatively, the base patrolman wage for a Pittsburgh officer was $56,151 last year. In Scott, it was $70,907; Carnegie, $61,797; and Baldwin, $59,307, according to information the borough compiled.

In Mount Lebanon, the base wage was $74,740 and the municipality’s top wage earner took in $109,120, according to Manager Steve Feller.

Mount Lebanon's top lieutenant earned $83,211 in base pay and its top-earning lieutenant made almost $120,100, he said.

Dormont's fire department is a volunteer organization, but the borough pays the salaries of four desk officers who drive the fire vehicles. Their gross pay ranged from $59,230 to $75,500.

All told, Dormont’s 31 full time employees earned $1,683,220 in base pay and $2,181,520 in total compensation in 2010. By department, overtime breaks down as follows:

Police: $141,899. About $20,000 was reimbursable, such as money from outside contractors for the West Liberty Avenue sewer work, according to Ian McMeans, assistant borough manager. The money still counts for pension calculations.

Fire: $49,989
Administration: $78
Code Enforcement: $1,090
Parks: $14,006
Street: $45,829

The following is a listing of 2010 base and gross pay, rounded to the nearest dollar:

Police:

Chief Phil Ross: $87,347, $99,924

Sgt. James Burke $75,468, $145, 962

Sgt. Ralf Zawischa $75,468, $131,299

Sgt. Michael Bisignani $75,468, $97,181

Sgt. Jim Briglia $75,468, $96,486

Patrolman Tom Madden $68,607, $108,439

Patrolman Don Kelly $68,607, $89,855

Patrolman William Tomosky $68,607, $98,745

Patrolman Tom Maloney $68,607, $83,661

Patrolman Thomas Mathis $68,607, $80,749

Patrolman Jonathan Sagwitz $54,886, $76,356

Patrolman Clark Witucki $51,446, $73,746

Patrolman George Dailey $51,446, $58,201

Secretary M. Smith $27,206, $27,719

Fire

Desk Officer Brant Bertha $52,105, $75,514

Desk Officer James Medsger $52,105, $71,593

Desk Officer James Kolesky $45,095, $68,834

Desk Officer M. Davis $45,095, $59,234

Administration

Manager Gino Rizza $66,500, $68,067

Assistant Manager Ian McMeans $36,000, $23,542*

Secretary Vickie McGurk $27,206, $27,953

Secretrary Carol Winter $$27,206, $30,469

Bookkeeper Sherri Pruce $42,973, $45,372

Building Inspector Pat Kelly $45,115, $47,841

Parks Foreman T.J. Conroy $48,984, $64,472

Street Crew

Foreman J. Schneider $48,984, $60,252

Street Crew T. Duffy $47,216, $56,391

Street Crew P. Helf $45,344, $55,076

Street Crew W. Kaslewicz $45,344, $53,676

Street Crew T. Digregory $45,344, $51,567

Street Crew V. Baney $45,344, $53,345

* McMeans was hired partway through 2010.