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Milwaukee Fire Department, Wisconsin, 2010-2011
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Milwaukee Fire Department salaries are public records under the Wisconsin Open Records Law.
Salaries
Salary and overtime pay databases are provided online by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The top 10 highest-paid Milwaukee Fire Department Emergency Services employees in 2010 were:[1]
| Name | Position | 2010 total pay |
| Donald G. Doro | Deputy Fire Chief | $150,512 |
| Sean W. Slowey | Battalion Chief | $130,480 |
| Ralph M. Gallow | Battalion Chief | $129,928 |
| Joseph J. Robak | Battalion Chief | $129,310 |
| James A. Hardy | Fire Captain | $123,321 |
| James H. Ley | Battalion Chief | $116,808 |
| David A. Rogowski | Fire Captain | $116,260 |
| Gerard M. Washington | Battalion Chief | $116,064 |
| Enrique Rodriguez | Fire Lieutenant | $115,993 |
| Randall E. Zingler | Deputy Fire Chief | $114,678 |
Data is also available for Fire Department non-emergency support staff. The top five highest-paid employees for that part of the department in 2010 were:[2]
| Name | Position | 2010 total pay |
| Michael L. Jones | Assistant Fire Chief | $159,123 |
| Alonzo G. Chapman | Battalion Chief | $115,627 |
| Stephen W. Gleisner | Deputy Chief | $109,729 |
| John T. Penderson | Admin Fire Captain | $109,200 |
| Michael T. Romas | Deputy Fire Chief | $100,917 |
The department's net salary and wage total for FY 2011, according to the city budget, was $69,465,872. The budget authorized a total of 1,026 employee positions.[3]
Benefits
Total fringe benefits expenditures for FY 2011, according to the city budget, were $27,786,348.[4]
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.[5] 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.[5] 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.[5]
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.
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ City of Milwaukee employees total pay and overtime in 2010, Milwaukee Fire Department- Emergency Services, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- ↑ City of Milwaukee employees total pay and overtime in 2010, Milwaukee Fire Department- Support Services, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- ↑ City of Milwaukee, 2011 Adopted Budget
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbudget - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 '’Philadelphia’s Quiet Crisis: The Rising Cost of Employee Benefits, Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, January 23, 2008
