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Philadelphia Fire Department, Pennsylvania, 2008-2011
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The Philadelphia Fire Department in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is composed of 36 offices, including EMS functions.[1]
Salaries and benefits
According to Simply Hired, the average salary for fire department jobs in Philadelphia was $55,000; Salary.com placed the average of Philadelphia Fire Department worker salaries at a little under $44,000.[2][3]
Sunshine Review reviewed Philadelphia Fire Department salaries from 2008 to 2011. The information was gathered from county data after Sunshine Review filed a public records request. There were no county employees earning over $150,000 in annual salaries. The following table outlines the top 10 salaries in the Philadelphia Fire Department in 2010.[4]
| First name | Last name | Position | Annual salary | Overtime |
| Lloyd | Ayers | Commissioner | $149,968.00 | $0.00 |
| John | Devlin | Deputy Commissioner | $123,188.00 | $0.00 |
| Ernest | Hargett Jr | Deputy Commissioner | $123,188.00 | $0.00 |
| David | Beatrice | Deputy Commissioner | $123,188.00 | $0.00 |
| Daniel | Williams | Deputy Commissioner | $107,976.00 | $0.00 |
| Richard | Bailey | Fire Deputy Chief | $102,056.00 | $3,910.90 |
| Thomas | Garrity | Fire Deputy Chief | $102,056.00 | $0.00 |
| Joseph | Mack | Fire Deputy Chief | $102,056.00 | $6,704.40 |
| Edwin | Grugan | Fire Deputy Chief | $102,056.00 | $8,939.20 |
| James | Grugan | Fire Deputy Chief | $102,056.00 | $7,821.80 |
In 2010:[5]
- The highest paid employee was Fire Commission Lloyd Ayers with an annual salary of $149,968.
- The lowest salary was that of six Fire Service Paramedics at $50,225.
- The average salary was $61,658.
- The median salary was $58,494.
The table below includes the number of employees and collective salaries by year:[6]
| 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 |
In 2010:[7]
- 181 employees received no overtime.
- The average amount of overtime was $9,430.
- The median amount of overtime was $7,010.
Phone use
The city of Philadelphia denied Sunshine Review's public records request for data on city cell phones, including the number of city phones, who the phones had been issued to and the amount budgeted for the use of the telephones. According to a letter received from the city, the request was denied due to "insufficient information." The city said the language used by Sunshine Review asking for "city cell phone use" was unclear.
Car use
Thirty-one Philadelphia Fire Department employees were given a take-home vehicle.[8]
| First name | Last name | Title |
| Lloyd | Ayers | Fire Commissioner |
| Richard | Bailey | Unit Head-Fire Codes |
| George | Butts | Regional Ems Director |
| Michael | Carroll | Apparatus Officer |
| Malcolm | Clay | Assistant Fire Marshal |
| Joseph | Comas | Deputy Director Fire Training Academy |
| Henry | Costo | Safety Officer |
| John | Devlin | Deputy Commissioner-Technical Services |
| Wayne | Forte | Assistant Fire Marshal |
| Larry | Foster | Ems Operations Chief |
| John | Gallagher | Fire Code Officer |
| Clifford | Gilliam | Fire Code Officer |
| Charles | Grover | Assistant Fire Marshal |
| Ernest | Hargett | Deputy Commissioner-Operations |
| Bernard | Mack | Deputy Fire Marshal |
| Joseph | Mack | Special Operations Command |
| Daniel | Macmurray | Hazardous Materials Administrative Captain |
| Joseph | Mcgraw | Technical Support & Homeland Securitychief |
| Douglas | Moore | Administrative Captain Of Ems |
| Daniel | Morgan | Hazardous Materials Administrative Captain |
| Kevin | O\'Mally | Employee Relations Officer |
| George | Perez | Assistant Fire Marshal |
| Joseph | Picozzi | Public Information Officer |
| Andrew | Robinson | Assistant Fire Marshal |
| Michael | Roeshman | Hazardous Materials Battalion Chief |
| Anthony | Rossi | Hazardous Materials Administrative Captain |
| Robert | Ruff | Fire Marshal |
| Derrick | Sawyer | Special Investigations Officer |
| Jerome | Walker | Equipment Officer |
| George | Werez | Water Operations Officer |
| Daniel | Williams | Executive Chief |
| Willie | Williams | Special Investigations Officer |
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.[9] 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.[9] 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.[9]
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
- Philadelphia employee salaries
- Pennsylvania local government salary: Fire Departments
- Public employee salary
External links
- Philadelphia Fire Department official website
- Philadelphia Fire Department Performance Reports
- Philadelphia Fire Department Performance Statistics
- "Yearly Salary of a Philadelphia Fire Fighter," eHow, January 6, 2011
- Philly Fire News
- Philadelphia Fire Department Salaries - Glassdoor.com
- State Budget Solutions -- Pennsylvania
Footnotes
- ↑ Philadelphia Fire Department - Contact List
- ↑ "Philadelphia Fire Department Salaries," Simply Hired
- ↑ "Fire Fighter-Philadelphia, PA," Salary.com
- ↑ Philly Fire Department Data
- ↑ Philly Fire Department Data
- ↑ Philly Fire Department Data
- ↑ Philly Fire Department Data
- ↑ Philly Fire Department Data
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 '’Philadelphia’s Quiet Crisis: The Rising Cost of Employee Benefits, Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, January 23, 2008
