Wilmington's highest paid workers are police and firefighters

Mayor Mike Purzycki is the face of Wilmington, but he's not the city employee earning the most money. 

Police officers and firefighters topped the city's list of payroll expenses in 2017, according to city data obtained by The News Journal. The top 20 earners were 18 police officers and two firefighters, most of whom enhanced their base salaries with overtime pay. 

Search:Wilmington employees salaries plus overtime

Search:Current Wilmington employee salaries

Wilmington's highest-paid worker last year was Senior Lt. Ruth Townsend, the data show. Her $95,258 base salary was boosted with $63,777 in overtime — the most OT earned by anyone — for a total of $159,035. That's just under the $160,000 Chief Robert Tracy is slated to make this year. 

One senior firefighter, Peter Dirado, nearly doubled his salary with overtime in 2017, data show. His $63,325 base salary became $122,854 by the end of the year — thousands more than Purzycki's $115,000. 

Fire Chief Michael Donohue said some firefighters get more overtime than others because they take shifts that are offered to them on a rotation. 

"It’s not like we’re feeding one guy the overtime," he said. "It’s a fair system. Some guys want to work, others don’t."

Fire suppression overtime costs have fluctuated through the years. In Fiscal Years 2015 and 2016, overtime cost $875,381 and $693,190, respectively. In Fiscal Year 2017, it shot up to over $1.5 million and then fell to $952,077 in Fiscal Year 2018, budget documents show. 

Donohue said overtime spiked in the first part of Fiscal Year 2017, when former Chief Anthony Goode was still in charge, because the department was down about 15 firefighters. With fewer firefighters, there is increased demand for overtime. 

He has since held a fire academy, and the department is now down seven positions, Donohue said. Eight vacancies are needed to kick off an academy class. 

Before Donohue took the helm, the department had 23 people on desk duty, he said. He moved nine of those individuals to fire suppression duty, which helped reduce overtime. 

Still, overtime is needed practically every day, Donohue said. 

"We’ll never get away from overtime in the fire department," he said. "It’s an impossibility. You’d have to overstaff the department." 

Overtime for police patrols was down significantly last year, according to city budget documents. In Fiscal Years 2015, 2016 and 2017, overtime costs for patrol were over $1.7 million, $1.1 million and $1.2 million, respectively.

In Chief Tracy's first year, patrol overtime costs were $358,099. Tracy did not respond to a request for comment. 

Also on Wilmington's payroll are several former employees who didn't actually work for the city for most or all of 2017, including former Mayor Dennis P. Williams. Data show Purzycki's predecessor, who officially left office on Jan. 3, collected $24,323 in unused vacation time from his tenure. 

Other former employees who were paid for unused time off include longtime Treasurer Henry Supinski, who earned $22,915 last year; Williams' former finance director, Sheila Winfrey-Brown, who made $19,193; and former city council analyst Edythe Pridgen, who made $17,165, the data show. 

Contact Christina Jedra at (302) 324-2837, cjedra@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.

Search: State worker salary database