In some South County towns, Nancy Dodge’s pay wouldn’t even make the top 10. But in New Shoreham, $82,945 made her number one.

Dodge, who holds the position of town manager, was Block Island’s highest-paid town employee during 2006, heading a list that includes three police officers, the superintendents of the water and sewer departments, the building inspector, a sewer department employee, the library director and the finance director.

Dodge, 61, a lawyer, was appointed to the manager’s post in February 2000. She was no stranger to island affairs, having served as town solicitor during the 1980s and on the School Committee during the 1990s.

She said the law degree is invaluable as she tackles her duties as town manager and noted that one of her counterparts in South County — Joseph T. Turo, in Westerly — is also a lawyer.

“It certainly helps,” she said.

Dodge’s pay in 2006 would have been too low to make the top-10 lists in Narragansett, North Kingstown or Westerly, but it was about $15,000 higher than the salary of the number-two employee on Block Island’s list: Police Chief Vincent Carlone.

Carlone, who retired as a head of the Narragansett Police Department’s detective division in 2003 after 20 years with the town, joined the Block Island force as a sergeant in May 2003. He was appointed chief the following year.

His gross pay for calendar 2006 was $67,157 — lower than all his South County counterparts except Chief Raymond A. Driscoll, in Richmond, who made $60,224.

Block Island, of course, is unique among Rhode Island towns. It has the state’s smallest year-round population, a little more than 1,000, and for most of the year it is a quiet place of pastoral landscapes and dramatic ocean views. That changes in the summer, when the population swells by the thousands and the Police Department — now with six full-time officers, Carlone said — is assisted by the state police.

Carlone joked that his salary amounts to about $10 an hour given the amount of time he puts in, but he said he enjoys his work and sees it as a “service to the community.”

The Journal compiled the top-10 list as part of a statewide look at school and municipal payroll spending during calendar 2006. Figures were provided by town and school officials in response to requests under the state Open Records Law.

The Journal’s analysis looks at gross pay — the total amount paid to employees before taxes are deducted, including base salary or wages, and other “extras” such as overtime, stipends, severance packages and additional pay for holding more than one job.

After Carlone, the police officers on the list are Lt. Clifton E. Reynolds, who was third with gross pay of $67,873; and Corporal Paul A. Deane, who was seventh with gross pay of $59,513.

The figure for Reynolds, who retired in December 2006, includes about $19,000 for unused sick and vacation time, Dodge said. Deane, now a sergeant, received about $13,000 in overtime pay, most of it for road details, Dodge and Carlone said.

The fourth position on the list went to Building Official Marcel A. Tillson, who had gross pay of $62,746. He was followed by Water Supt. David L. Simmons, at $62,077, and Sewer Supt. Rene P. Boucher, at $61,942. Another sewer employee, Christopher J. Blane, a principal operator, was eighth on the list, with gross pay of $57,780, but his figure included overtime pay, Dodge said.

The library director and the finance director rounded out the list. Library Director Ilonka G. Todd was ninth among the town’s 54 full-time employees, at $57,049, followed by Finance Director Amy B. Lewis, at $51,597.

Compiled by Paul Edward Parker

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Source: Town of New Shoreham

Compiled by Paul Edward Parker

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Source: New Shoreham School Dept.

redgar@projo.com