TIVERTON — As in many other communities, the police figure prominently among the highest paid municipal workers, taking 7 of the top 10 positions in town, according to a Providence Journal analysis of the entire Rhode Island municipal payroll for 2006.

The 10 highest municipal salaries for that year range from a high of $81,879 for police Chief Thomas Blakey down to the 10th spot, $67,443 for Detective Sgt. Michael Carr.

The fire chief, Robert Lloyd, the former town administrator, W. Glenn Steckman 3rd, and the former public works director, David Webster, round out the list for 2006.

In the School Department, Supt. William J. Rearick topped the earnings list, at a salary of $114,803. The Journal’s analysis is based on payroll information provided by the town.

Apart from Rearick, the remaining names on the top 10 list for the schools came from the ranks of building principals and other administrators, except for the guidance director of the high school, Elizabeth Farley, who ranked 10th with a salary of $74,198.

Farley, a member of the teachers union, made about $16,000 less than the guidance director in neighboring Portsmouth, which has a roughly similar school system.

And the other officials on the top 10 list, both in the municipal government and in the School Department, generally had lower salaries than those with similar or identical positions in other East Bay communities, with the exception of Little Compton.

Blakey, speaking for his officers, emphasized that every penny is well-earned.

The extra pay for details and overtime represents many hours that officers spent away from their families — over and above a full work week, Blakey said.

Said police Sgt. Richard Ruest, “You’ve got to put in the time to get the pay. At the same time you are performing a necessary service.”

Arguably, some police officers ranked among the top 10 because of private detail pay, generated by the private sector — not the taxpayer.

Blakey likened private detail pay to “a second job at a convenience store.”

Those hiring the police officers pay the town, which charges an administrative fee and in turn passes on the employee’s share as part of the municipal payroll, Blakey said. Other municipalities have similar policies.

Police Sgt. Richard Ruest said the town makes money on the administrative fees for details, and rightfully so.

If the detail requires the officer to have a police cruiser, for example, the chief uses the town’s fee from the assignment toward the maintenance of the cruiser, he said.

Other times, the town’s fee goes into the general fund, Ruest said.

Fire Chief Robert Lloyd, who was fourth on the top 10 list with a salary of $74,594.32, pointed out that he is on call 24 hours a day — as is Blakey, the police chief. And Lloyd said he hasn’t had a vacation in the three years since he took the chief’s job.

But Lloyd recently signed another three-year contract. He said he wants to realize his vision for the Fire Department in which all the firefighters are trained at a “higher level, prepared for any emergency in town.”

He declined comment on another factor in emergency preparedness — the addition of a ladder truck to the Fire Department fleet.

The Town Council refused last week to back a proposal to purchase a $1 million ladder truck that would add $90,000 to the town’s annual debt service, despite sentiment on the town Budget Committee that the equipment is needed to ensure a quick response to fires affecting the upper stories of two- or three-story houses.

The town now relies on mutual aid from other communities when it needs a ladder truck. Buying one for the town would simply cost too much, the council members said.

And Lloyd said the council speaks for the town.

Compiled by Paul Edward Parker

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Source: Town of Tiverton

Compiled by Paul Edward Parker

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Source: Tiverton School Dept.

gmacris@projo.com