NEWPORT — When it comes to government payroll expenses: Newport actually shares something in common with a community that doesn’t seem the least bit comparable — Block Island.

Despite their vast population and budgetary differences, Newport and Block Island are the only two communities in Rhode Island that spent more on municipal payrolls than on school payrolls in 2006, according to a Providence Journal analysis.

Newport’s payroll for school employees was $22.65 million, slightly less than $23.15 million the city paid its municipal employees. In most cities and towns across Rhode Island, school payrolls are substantially larger than municipal payrolls, often double or triple the amount.

Newport officials offered several explanations for the seemingly unique payroll figures, including declining student enrollment and a thriving tourism industry.

City Manager Edward F. Lavallee noted that Newport experiences municipal costs on a par with larger communities because it is a nearly year-round tourist destination and is home to a sizeable college, Salve Regina University. Also, the city draws in lots of people through its busy wedding businesses.

“The visitors bureau tells us more than 4 million people come a year,” Lavallee says. That places a burden on city roads and services, he says, remarking that “they are drinking water, flushing toilets and getting in accidents.”“I don’t know if there is any place in the state,” even Providence, that experiences that amount of visitor impact, he said. “It’s a lot of people in a small area.”

Meanwhile, Newport provides drinking water not only for city residents but for Portsmouth, Middletown and the Navy, each of which pay for the service. Nevertheless, the city’s payroll figures include the salaries of the 46 people who work in the Water Department, Lavallee said. The city also provides sewage treatment for the surrounding communities, but the city hires a private company to run the treatment plant so the payroll isn’t as affected, he said, although his administration does devote time to overseeing its operation.

Lavallee said that the payroll also reflects the city’s demand for a certain level of service. For example, the Police Department has divisions dedicated to vice, investigation, juveniles, evidence and community policing. The Fire Department has three stations, requiring a deputy chief to administer each one.

“You get that specialization,” Lavallee said. “It’s a quality of life issue.”

In the East Bay, Newport devotes a far greater share of its payroll to public safety than any other community. Nearly 34 percent of the city’s entire governmental payroll, including schools, goes to public safety employees. The next highest community, East Providence, devotes nearly 25 percent of its budget to public safety.

The Newport departments, particularly police, perform details for construction sites and events that are paid by private businesses. The pay, however, is included in the payroll figures. The overtime paid for private police details is about $800,000 a year, Lavallee said.

He went on to say that the city hires a contractor to haul rubbish and also collects yard waste and appliance. The Recreation Department is responsible for the upkeep of 35 parks and fields.

“That’s a lot,” Lavallee said.

Because the city is built up and comprises many older buildings, the Planning and Zoning Department needs four inspectors to keep up with the building permits pulled for renovation projects, Lavallee said. And unlike many surrounding communities the densely developed city has an abundance of roads, a total of 300 streets covering 94 miles of paved surface, all of which requires maintenance.

“We’re not shrinking in terms of the services we provide,” Lavalle said. “At the same time, the school population has been dropping.”

Schools Supt. John Ambrogi also noted that the school budget has been directly affected by declining enrollment. Sheffield School, in fact, was closed more than a year ago because of the smaller student population. That closing and other changes caused by fewer students has led to a reduction of 54 teacher and staff positions over the past years, he said. Another 13 positions are expected to be eliminated in the coming year.

In terms of payroll, said Ambrogi, “We’re getting to be where we should be.”

Ambrogi also noted that $1.5 million of the schools’ $22.7-million payroll is derived not from taxpayers, but from the federal government. The money covers the salary of about 23 employees.

“We’re a school district with a high rate of poverty. We get a substantial sum of federal monies,” he says.

The fact that the city has five, aged elementary schools also drives up payroll, Ambrogi said. He and the School Committee are seeking to close the buildings and build a new one. In the meantime, the schools have their own principals, custodians and secretaries.

“We do have more than other schools in terms of support and staff,” said Ambrogi, who has touted the savings the new school plan would realize.

For the School Department, the average pay per full-time employee is $54,143, according to The Journal analysis. A few of the other school districts in the East Bay have higher average pay, including Portsmouth at $64,852 and Barrington at $57,840. But while Newport may not have the highest salaries, it certainly has a reputation for generous benefits, which aren’t factored into the payroll figure.

“In the past, Newport went with the decision to have a strong benefit package,” Ambrogi acknowledged.

That included lifetime health benefits, which Ambrogi said are no longer given to new hires. Newport also requires new employees to share in the cost of their health insurance premiums, he said.

The average pay for municipal employees, $63,091, is higher than the average for the School Department. Lavallee said that the more part-time jobs a community has the lower the average pay will be while communities with more specialized jobs will have more higher earners. In Newport, he reiterated, there are more higher-ranking police and fire employees with specialized training and supervisory responsibilities.

“It doesn’t surprise me that we are closer to the top than the bottom,” Lavallee said.THE PUBLIC PAYROLL: EAST BAY

Payroll costs are by far the biggest item in the budgets of cities and towns. In the East Bay region, pay for municipal employees totaled more than $94 million, according to reports supplied to The Journal for each community for the calendar year 2006. The money for salaries came from local taxes, along with fees, grants and other sources.

In every community except for Newport, more money is spent on schools than on nonschool functions such as police and fire protection and public works.

The median household income offers a possible measure of the citizens’ ability to pay their municipal workers.

POPULATION is from 2006 U.S. Census estimates. MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME is from 2000 Census, adjusted for 17 percent inflation from 2000 to 2006. SCHOOL and NONSCHOOL PAYROLLS were compiled by the Journal from 2006 figures. SCHOOL FTEs are from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for 2005-06 school year and are a total of teachers and staff. Portsmouth figures have been updated from previously published charts after consultation with the school department. NONSCHOOL FTEs are from the state Office of Municipal Affairs for 2007 fiscal year. (FTEs are calculated with a full-time employee counting as one and a part-time worker counting as a fraction of one, depending on how many hours he or she works.)

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

rsalit@projo.com