Police earnings again top the list
Published on February 24th, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - If you are planning your child's future - trying to steer him/her toward a rewarding and lucrative career - you may want to look into the Stoneham Police Department.
The 1998 earnings for town employees was recently made available to the public and includes a breakdown for the salaries of each of the 726 people who were issued a paycheck by the Town of Stoneham this past year. Comprising a large majority of the upper echelon of earnings on the list (see chart below) were employees of the Police Department.
In fact, the top seven people on the earnings list were employees of that department with Stoneham Police Sergeant Thomas Taranti heading the pack with a total income from the town of $105,584. Following close on his heels was Lieutenant Charles Haney, Jr. who also profited over $105,000. The three other Stoneham employees to top the $100,000 plateau in 1998 were Lieutenant Gregory O'Keefe, Sergeant Robert Swasey and Lieutenant Joseph DelRossi.
According to Chief Eugene Passaro, these figures are misleading.
Passaro explained that a large portion of police officer earnings are attributed to overtime and paid detail work. While a majority of an officer's overtime work is paid for through local tax dollars, the chief explained, a substantial portion is gained through federal and state grants. Also, all monies which Police Department employees earn for detail work is paid for by private entities. Stoneham residents do not pay a dime for details, Passaro said.
"In fact, the town is reaping benefits from paid overtime," he stated, explaining that the town gets 10 percent of paid detail stipends. "The town is making money on that. The town is not paying for that.
"The town makes money for every dollar that police officers make on details."
To use an example, Sergeant Taranti's salary was listed at just over $70,000 in 1998. The $15,272 that he made in overtime and $19,823 that he made for paid details, however, brought his earnings up over $105,000 and moved him from the middle of the pack in the top 50 town-wide salary listing to the pinnacle of the top 50 town-wide earnings listing.
The congestion of police personnel is evident not only at the very top of the town's earnings listing, but throughout. In fact, 16 of the top 25 on the list were on the police force as well as 26 of the top 50.
Passaro, who came in at number 16 behind 12 of his subordinates, said that his employees take on detail work, which pays $33 an hour, in their off days and on their vacations.
"I think the officers deserve it," Passaro said. "They're working for that money. I see absolutely nothing wrong with it because they work hard."
Passaro explained that he believes detail work is a totally separate entity from the Police Department and should be treated as such when the town releases its annual earnings list.
"You don't hear about how someone on the Fire Department runs his painting business on the side," he said. "Why should you hear about this?"
Selectman Cosmo Ciccarello agreed with Passaro in his belief about the work ethic of local officers.
"They're working the extra hours," he said. "You have the opportunity to make the money if you're a police officer, but you have to work. (The town has) so many details that we can't even keep up."
The top five employees in terms of straight salary were Frank Gagliardi of the Stoneham School Department, Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting, Lieutenant Haney, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth Keroack and Chief Passaro.
According to School Superintendent Joseph Connelly, who will have to wait to make the list until next year due to his recent hiring, Gagliardi wears many hats in the Stoneham School Department. Gagliardi headed up the list of salaried employees with a figure of $93,439.
Aside from his position as principal of both the North and Colonial Park elementary schools, he is the director of special education. In addition, some of the monies were earned by Gagliardi through his role as director of Title 1 funding (state monies dispersed for students in need) and to cover travel expenses.
According to Ciccarello, the money was earned by each of the 726 people who received a check last year.
"I think all town employees are pretty well paid in town. There were years here when we didn't give raises at all and those were some tough times," he said referring to the early 1990's. "It was really, really rough.
"Hopefully, the economy will keep up and we can keep rewarding them.
We try to keep (salaries) at the middle of the pack (in terms of surrounding communities)," Ciccarello continued. "As long as we continue to do that, I think it's fair."<
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