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Pennsylvania local government salary, 2008-2011
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Pennsylvania local government salary data is public records.
Cities
For cities, the highest paid officials aren't in administrative positions. For example, the highest salary in Pittsburgh in 2009 went to the Paramedic Crew Chief, who earned $174,881.[1] The highest paid official in Philadelphia for 2011 was the city medical examiner, who earned $239,200.[2]
Counties
The scope of county employee salaries varies from county to county. In the four most populous counties in the state:[3]
- In 2011 in Philadelphia, there were 33 employees earning over $150,000 and five earning more than $190,000.[4]
- Allegheny County had at least one official making over $150k in 2008.[5][6]
- Montgomery County had four employees making over $150,000.[7]
- Bucks had three officials over the mark.[8]
These officials ranged from medical examiners to executive officers in aviation departments. The highest paid official in these counties was the Philadelphia city medical examiner, who earned $239,200 in 2011.
School districts
For Pennsylvania school districts, it was overwhelmingly the superintendents making the highest salaries.
- In Allentown School District, the highest salary went to the Superintendent, who earned $163,105 in 2009.[9]
- That same year, the Superintendent of Bethlehem Area School District made $176,187.
- In 2010, the Pittsburgh School District superintendent made $240,000, plus $102,920 in benefits.
- The Philadelphia School District superintendent earned the district's highest salary, making $348,140 in 2010. She was replaced in August, 2011.[10]
The Altoona Mirror did a survey of public school superintendents and created an online database of the contracts in 2007.[11]
Law enforcement
The salary for police and law enforcement officials in the state of Pennsylvania ranged from the over $70,000 to close to $200,000.
On the lower end, Bucks County Sheriff Office paid its sheriff the highest salary in the office, $77,528 in 2011. The Montgomery County Sheriff's Department paid $86,729 to a Chief Deputy, the highest paid employee.
Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Police Chief Nathan Harper, who had served in the position since 2006, earned a salary of $101,369.01 in 2011. The police inspector for Allegheny County Police Department made the highest salary in the department at $151,986. He was the only employee to pass the $150,000 threshold. For the Pennsylvania State Police, the highest paid employee was the state police commissioner in 2010. In 2010, he earned a salary of $132,569.84.
The highest salary earned in the Philadelphia Police Department, and the highest salary of all law enforcement officials highlighted in the focus of this article, was $191,256 for the Philadelphia police commissioner.
For benefits provided to police department employees, the Pennsylvania State Police spent $151,399,034 in 2010. That same year, it spent $284,798,786 on salaries. This means that more than a third of employee compensation came in the form of benefits.
Fire departments
High-level fire department officials made up to three times as much as the average department employee salary, as profiled on internet search engines. For the Philadelphia Fire Department, the average salary range was $44,000 to $55,000.[12][13] The Department Commissioner made $149,968 in 2010.[14] In Pittsburgh, the average range of salaries for fire department employees was $40,000 to$43,000, and officials in the higher end of the organizational hierarchy made more than twice that: the fire chief made $93,697 in 2011.[15][16]
Data transparency
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire has a history of criticisms against the quality and availability of the data it archives.[17]
Overtime pay
The table below includes the number of Philadelphia Fire Department employees and collective salaries by year:[18]
| Year | Number of employees | Amount spent on salaries | Amount spent on overtime |
| 2008 | 2,165 | $132,399,259 | $18,345,010 |
| 2009 | 1,974 | $119,727,512 | $23,157,765 |
| 2010 | 2,194 | $135,277,790 | $20,691,210 |
Salary articles
In 2011, Sunshine Review requested salary information from 19 local governments in the state.
Cities
Counties
School districts
- Philadelphia City School District
- Pittsburgh School District
- Bethlehem Area School District
- Allentown City School District
Law enforcement
- Philadelphia Police Department
- Allegheny County Police Department
- Montgomery County Sheriff's Department
- Bucks County Sheriff Office
- Pittsburgh Bureau of Police
- Philadelphia Police Department
- Pennsylvania State Police
Fire departments
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.[19] 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.[19] 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.[19]
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
External links
2009
2008
Footnotes
- ↑ Pittsburgh Tribune "196 Pittsburgh workers' pay tops $100K"
- ↑ Philadelphia salary data, obtained via records request by Sunshine Review, April 19, 2011
- ↑ Pennsylvania population by County - total residents
- ↑ Philadelphia employee salaries
- ↑ "Allegheny County Pay Raises, Nepotism Policy," WTAE Pittsburgh
- ↑ Allegheny County employee salaries
- ↑ Montgomery County employee salaries
- ↑ Bucks County employee salaries
- ↑ Salaries for Allentown Schools
- ↑ "Arlene Ackerman is out as Philly superintendent," Philly.com, August 22, 2011
- ↑ Superintendent contracts, Altoona Mirror
- ↑ "Fire Fighter-Philadelphia, PA," Salary.com
- ↑ "Philadelphia Fire Department Salaries," Simply Hired
- ↑ Philadelphia Fire Department Salaries, via open records request, Sunshine Review blog
- ↑ "Fire Fighter - Pittsburgh, PA," Salary.com
- ↑ "Pittsburgh Fire Department Salaries," Simply Hired (dead link)
- ↑ Bureau of Fire Management Study for the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, December 21, 2004
- ↑ Philly Fire Department Data
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 '’Philadelphia’s Quiet Crisis: The Rising Cost of Employee Benefits, Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, January 23, 2008
