GLOCESTER — Eight of the 10 top earners in town government in 2006, exclusive of the School Department, were members of the Police Department.

Police Capt. Joseph Mattera, 46, earned $73,499, topping the list of the highest paid municipal employees. His boss, Chief Jamie Hainsworth, came in at a close second, with a salary of $73,009.

The findings were part of a public information request The Journal made to the town Finance Department last year. The figures do not include the cost of benefits, but do include overtime, longevity bonuses and extra pay for stipends, special work details, and compensation for other responsibilities.

There were 326 employees in town in 2006; 178 in the School Department and 148 in other town departments. The Foster-Glocester Regional School District, which runs Ponaganset High School and Ponaganset Middle School and is jointly financed by the two towns, has 338 employees.

Overtime pay accounts for much of the increased earnings that Captain Mattera and other police officers realized in 2006. Nine of the 10 top overtime earners in 2006 worked in the Police Department, with Mattera’s $12,203 in overtime leading the list.

Mattera, who has worked in the department since 1986, earned a $55,571 base salary, $3,011 in longevity pay and $711 in incentive pay.

Work detail pay, which is covered by the company that enlists the police detail and is not covered by the town, is also included in the amount of overtime earnings, Town Finance Director Thomas Mainville added.

According to the last police union contract, which expired June 30, 2007, police officers earn between $32.66 and $52.20 an hour for work details, depending upon the type of the event and the day of the week it takes place.

Chief Hainsworth earned a base salary of $ 65,866 while accruing $202 in incentive pay and $6,940 for longevity. Hainsworth, 47, joined the department in January 1980 and has been police chief since 2000.

Police administrative aide Matthew D. Floor earned $9,834 in overtime, the second highest amount of overtime pay in 2006. His gross earnings that year, $60,685, put him at number five on the list of top earners.

Floor, 34, has been with the department since October 1995, and serves a variety of functions, including police dispatcher and information technology director, which accounts for his salary, according to Mainville.

His salary comprised a $43,848 base salary, $1,315 in longevity pay, $1,848 in holiday pay, and $13,674 in overtime and work detail pay, Mainville said.

Based on base salary alone, the top 10 earners would be much different: Hainsworth would lead the pack, followed by Public Works Director Alan D. Whitford, Finance Director Thomas P. Mainville, Town Planner Raymond M. Goff and Mattera.

The only non-police employee in that group was Public Works Department laborer Ronald L. Levesque, who earned a $38,865 base salary plus $4,551 in overtime, and $1,343 in longevity pay. Levesque has been with the department since 1987.

The total Police Department budget for overtime this year is $117,095, of which $20,000 is set aside for police dispatchers. There are currently six officers out of 14 with more than 10 years in the department; two more have nine years, Mainville said.

Compiled by Paul Edward Parker

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Source: Town of Glocester

pmarcelo@projo.com