Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, Florida, 2010-2011

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Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department employee salaries are public records under the Florida Sunshine Law.

Gov. Rick Scott's office launched a website on March 17, 2011 that provides access to frequently requested public records and information, including a state employee salary database and a list of state pension benefits that exceed $100,000.

The website, FloridaHasARightToKnow.com, also includes contract records, information on rule-making status and procedures and links to other open government resources.

Salaries

2011

In 2011, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department had one employee who earned over $150,000 a year.

• There were 1,299 employees listed in the database for Fire and Rescue
• The highest paid employee was Fire Chief Daniel Kleman, with a salary of $154,875.00
• The lowest paid employee was Dewitt Perkins, with a salary of $23,302.56

Name	Agency	Annual salary
Kleman, Daniel	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department - FROD011 DIRECTOR/FIRE CHIEF - ADMINISTRATION	$154,875.00
White, Robert	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department - FROD011 DIRECTOR/FIRE CHIEF - ADMINISTRATION	$129,062.54
Moreland, Charles	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department - FROD011 DIRECTOR/FIRE CHIEF - ADMINISTRATION	$118,737.46
Rigdon, Brady	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department - FROD011 DIRECTOR/FIRE CHIEF - ADMINISTRATION	$118,737.46
Senterfitt, Martin	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department - FREP011 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS	$114,000.00
Peterson, Larry	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department - FRAS011 FIRE/RESCUE ADMINISTRATIVE SVCS	$113,062.20
Byrd, Eleanor	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department - FRFT011 FIRE TRAINING SCHOOL	$112,200.00
McCormick, Leslie	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department - FRFO011FO FIRE OPERATIONS	$108,999.96
Roseberry, Anthony	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department - FRFP011AD FIRE PREVENTION ADMINISTRATION	$108,000.00
Brown, Thomas	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department - FRRS011 RESCUE & FIRST AID	$96,492.00

The base salary for a firefighter in Jacksonville was $2,839 per month ($34,068 per year) on a 56-hour week (24 hours on, 48 hours off). There are step raises and a $300 per year raise for each five years of employment.

2010

In early 2012, Jacksonville's The Florida Times-Union requested public salary data from more than 90 North Florida government agencies for 2010 to 2011. Below are the city's 10 highest paid fire and rescue employees in 2010:

Name	Year	Employer	Base pay	Total pay
Kleman, Daniel	2010	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department	$151,777.56	$151,777.56
Moreland, Charles	2010	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department	$150,020.04	$150,020.04
Kiely, Robert	2010	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department	$123,450.60	$123,450.60
Wade, Raymond	2010	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department	$94,560.00	$117,688.88
Brown, Thomas	2010	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department	$94,560.00	$116,472.37
Rigdon, Brady	2010	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department	$116,362.71	$116,362.71
Byrd, Eleanor	2010	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department	$116,349.96	$116,349.96
Senterfitt, Martin	2010	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department	$111,720.00	$111,720.0
Williams, George	2010	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department	$90,072.00	$111,432.49
White, Nealy	2010	Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department	$94,560.00	$110,744.59

Benefits

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department employees are given the following benefits:

• Health insurance
• Life
• Dental and vision
• Flexible spending account
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vacation, sick and holiday leave
• Uniforms and gear
• Retirement plan in the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund

Salary records project

In 2011, Sunshine Review chose 152 local governments as the focus of research on public employee salaries. The editors of Sunshine Review selected eight states with relevant political contexts (listed alphabetically):

1. California
2. Florida
3. Illinois
4. Michigan
5. New Jersey
6. Pennsylvania
7. Texas
8. Wisconsin

Within these states, the editors of Sunshine Review focused on the most populous cities, counties and school districts, as well as the emergency services entities within these governments. The purpose of this selection method was to develop articles on governments affecting the most citizens.

The salary information garnered from these states were a combination of existing online resources and state Freedom of Information Act requests sent out to the governments.

A study published by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia said the city of Philadelphia faced challenges owing to the cost of public employee pensions. The report claimed the amount that Philadelphia paid to pension recipients limited the city’s ability to use its budget effectively.

The report said there were more individuals receiving pension benefits—33,907 claimants in 2006—than workers in the city—28,701. The authors recommended three steps towards addressing the problem of high costs in pensions: improved data collection, expanded transparency initiatives, and reductions to the city's overall budget.

Salary schedules can be published as ranges, not as specific compensation figures, and may leave out compensation received through health and retirement benefits, as well as benefits such as commuter allowances and cell phone reimbursements. This project aimed to close the gap and provide a more accurate picture of public employee salaries for the sake of public education and transparency.

See also

• Public employee salaries

External links

• State Budget Solutions -- Florida