Miami Department of Fire-Rescue, Florida, 2007-2011

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Miami Department of Fire-Rescue 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

Monthly salary information by position is posted on the City of Miami website here.

Class title	Min. monthly salary	Max. monthly salary
FIRE CAPTAIN	$5,141.76	$8,055.84
FIRE CHIEF	$15,825.94	$17,751.79
FIRE LIEUTENANT	$4,442.88	$6,961.76
FIRE SAFETY SPECIALIST	$3,627.87	$4,985.07
FIRE SAFETY SPECIALIST SUPERVISOR	$4,414.80	$6,059.73
FIRE SUPPLIES CLERK I	$2,327.87	$3,206.67
FIRE SUPPLIES CLERK II	$2,691.87	$3,716.27
FIRE & LIFE SAFETY EDUCATION SPECIALIST	$3,816.80	$5,227.73
FIRE & LIFE SAFETY EDUCATOR, P/T	$1,820.00	$2,256.80
FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY EDUCATION COORDINATOR	$4,631.47	$6,359.60

2008

According to The Biscayne Times, 97 city employees earned more than $200,000 in total compensation at a cost of $22.76 million in 2008. Eighty-one of those employees were from the Department of Fire-Rescue.

2007

Miami Department of Fire-Rescue top employee salaries, 2007

Name	Title	Annual salary"	Years employed
WILLIAM W BRYSON	CHIEF OF FIRE	$162,579.00	32
LORAN B DOUGHERTY	DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF	$140,459.00	33
MAURICE L KEMP	DEPUTY CHIEF FIRE	$140,459.00	22
THOMAS L FLORES	ASST CHIEF MARSHALL	$133,765.00	31
REGINALD KING DUREN	ASST CHIEF	$133,765.00	25

Benefits

The benefits for firefighters include:

• Competitive salary
• Pension
• Paid vacation
• Sick leave
• Holiday pay
• Group insurance

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