NORTH PROVIDENCE — Two Fire Department rescue lieutenants, three battalion chiefs, two police officers, the deputy police chief and the retired finance director were the highest paid municipal employees in 2006, a review of town financial records shows.

The compensation, the latest available when The Journal began its review, shows that the highest paid employee was rescue Lt. Jay T. Petrillo, whose gross pay of $113,112 exceeded by $38,000 the pay of then-Mayor A. Ralph Mollis.

Petrillo’s base pay in 2006 was $47,300 and he earned $65,806 in overtime. His situation was similar to the fourth most highly compensated employee, rescue Lt. Albert Peterson, who chalked up $50,386 in overtime on top of his base pay of $47,305.

Under the town’s contract with the firefighters union, which is up for negotiation this year, at least 19 firefighters must be on duty per shift, which can be costly if a number of firefighters are sick or injured.

Fire Chief Alfred Bertoncini has attempted to cut some overtime costs by ordering people who are out sick to come in on light duty and by pressing others to retire if they have been out for an extended time, Mayor Charles Lombardi said.

The second highest paid employee in 2006 was Robert A. DiStefano, former finance director. DiStefano retired in August 2006 but stayed on as acting finance director under a rule that allows people on pensions to continue in their jobs 75 days a year. He stayed until after Lombardi was elected mayor in April 2007.

DiStefano’s gross compensation of $106,770 reflected a base pay of $67,971 and retirement income of $39,171.

Police Sgt. Timothy C. Magill had a base pay of $56,446 in 2006 but ended up with $99,622 in gross pay. That included $9,514 in overtime, $3,003 in holiday pay, retroactive pay of $828 when a new contract was signed, $1,617 in unused vacation, $500 in college incentives, a $1,150 clothing allowance, a $924 sick bonus and $25,637 for working police details at various venues.

Lombardi said the town paid Magill only $73,484 because his $500 college incentive was reimbursed by the state and the $25,637 for police details was reimbursed by the companies that assigned him.

Fire Battalion Chiefs Gerald Capaldi, David P. Charello and Andrew M. Zarlenga came in as the fifth, sixth and ninth highest paid employees, with gross pay of $97,367, $93,440 and $91,843, respectively.

Capaldi’s base pay was $54,517, which was supplemented by overtime of $42,849. Charello’s base pay was $54,267, supplemented by $39,173 in overtime. Zarlenga had a base pay of $54,567, supplemented by $37,325 in overtime.

Much of the overtime resulted from the retirement of Chief Steven J. Catanzaro in the fall of 2006 and the promotion of Battalion Chief Donald Clark as an acting chief. Because no one replaced Clark, the other three battalion chiefs covered Clark’s shift, adding to the overtime.

Catanzaro collected $104,000 for unused sick days and vacation days when he retired, but gave back $50,598 after it was pointed out that an executive order issued by Mollis in 1997 barred department heads from carrying unused sick and vacation time beyond the year it was earned. As a result, Catanzaro was only 19th on the list of highest paid employees, with total compensation of $83,567.

The seventh and eighth highest paid municipal employees in 2006 were Deputy Police Chief Paul A. Marino, with income of $92,710, and former police Capt. Christopher J. Cardarelli, with income of $87,244.

Marino’s base pay was $76,482, which was supplemented by $2,471 in overtime, $4,072 in holiday pay, $1,043 in retroactive pay for the new contract, $5,820 in unused vacation time, a $429 college incentive, a $1,550 clothing allowance and a $1,270 sick bonus. Marino’s $429 college incentive was reimbursed by the state, leaving $92,710 that was borne by North Providence taxpayers.

Cardarelli, who has since retired from the Police Department and is now a firefighter, had a base pay of $67,860 as a police officer in 2006. That was supplemented by $6,947 in overtime, $4,171 in overtime working for the federal Food and Drug Administration, $3,610 in holiday pay, $208 in court time, $1,079 in retroactive pay for the new contract, $5,277 in unused vacation time, a $500 college incentive, a $1,150 clothing allowance, $1,206 for detail work and a $1,111 sick bonus.

Because of reimbursements from the federal government for his drug work, from the state for his college incentive and from private companies for his detail work, the actual cost to the town for Cardarelli’s compensation was $87,244.

Rounding out the top 10 compensated employees in 2006 was fire Lt. Stephen M. L’Heureux who had a gross pay of $90,307 — from $47,306 in regular pay and $43,001 in overtime.

rdujardi@projo.com