Firefighters, police among Danbury’s highest paid
DANBURY — Local firefighters and police officers are among the highestpaid employees in Danbury, in some cases because of overtime.
Sixty members of the police department and 28 with the fire department made the top 100 of highest-paid municipal employees in 2020, according to Danbury payroll data obtained by The News-Times.
“I believe it is pretty common for police officers and firefighters to be among the highest paid when overtime is factored in,” Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour said in an email. “That’s not just true of Danbury but in many cities and towns in Connecticut and the region.”
Overtime does not count toward police or firefighters’ pension benefits, officials said. In 2020, the city paid nearly $41 million in base salaries and $4.05 million in overtime to 685 full and part-time employees.
But overtime for the fire department was likely higher this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Firefighters needed to pick up shifts when their colleagues were exposed to the virus, Mayor Joe Cavo said.
“It was just sort of like a revolving door,” said Cavo, a former apparatus superintendent for the department. “As you were getting people back, people were going back out on quarantine. It was quite an issue. It has calmed, though.”
The highest-paid city employee was Fire Lt. Shaun McQuade, who earned almost $223,000 in 2020, with about 57 percent of that coming from overtime.
“When they’re working overtime, it’s days, it’s nights, it’s weekends, it’s definitely holidays,” said Fire Lt. Christopher “Chip” Daly, president of the Danbury fire union. “They’re out there protecting the citizens of Danbury and they’re spending time away from their homes, their families, their kids.”
At the No. 2 spot was Antonio Iadarola, public works director and city engineer, who earned nearly $214,000. He had been No. 1 in 2019, when he received about $210,000. He has worked for Danbury for about 15 years and oversees roughly 250 employees.
David St. Hilaire, finance director, landed at No. 3, with about $183,000 in earnings. He joined the city in 2007 and has master’s degrees in finance, taxes and accounting, as well as numerous certifications.
Former Mayor Mark Boughton is No. 52 on the list, earning about $126,000. He had been at the 29th spot in 2019, earning about $123,000.
Joe Cavo, who became mayor for the last couple weeks of the year, brought home $994. He’s No. 662 on the list.
The school district has provided the earnings for educators for the the 202021 fiscal year, a list that Superintendent Sal Pascarella topped with nearly $245,000.
COVID-19 impact
Most city salaries are based on contracts, with some unions forgoing raises this fiscal year due to the financial strain of the coronavirus pandemic on the municipality.
Danbury has historically given raises to department heads based on what the budget looks like mid-fiscal year, Cavo said. Department heads would receive around the same percentage raises as their union staff received, he said
He has yet to review whether department heads could get raises this year, but expects the budget to be tight.
“We’re behind in our revenue,” Cavo said. “People are having a hard time paying.”
The pandemic played a major role in increasing manpower costs for the fire department, said Daly, who earned less than $124,000 and was No. 62 on the list.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the union and department switched to a 24-hours on, 72-hours off schedule, which is standard for fire departments, he said. Danbury firefighters used to work three days on and three days off.
They also agreed to allow firefighters to work 48 hours straight, instead of the 36-hour cap, because they expected quarantines and exposures, Daly said. This means firefighters were eligible for more overtime hours.
“It’s blood money at the end of 48 hours,” said Daly, who made almost $29,000 in overtime. “It can be a grind.”
But Daly said it was a “godsend” around the holidays when the department had more exposures and could keep a firefighter on a longer shift, rather than ordering someone to come in. The contract signed at the end of last year makes this change permanent, he said.
Ridenhour said he is unsure what factor COVID played on police overtime.
“The COVID pandemic probably had some effect but it’s hard to say whether or not it was significant,” said Ridenhour, who earned about $145,000 in 2020 and does not receive overtime.
In the beginning of the pandemic, several officers on private duty were assigned to monitor traffic at testing sites daily. Quarantines sometimes led to officers being put on overtime, Ridenhour said.
“It’s possible that some of the overtime may be reimbursable through the state and/or federal government, but we don't know how much yet,” he said.
The city typically hires part-time health workers for annual flu clinics, but this December hired these staff for COVID vaccinations and continues to seek these employees, Cavo said. The hope is that these costs will be covered by grants.
Overtime
Four fire lieutenants topped the list of employees to earn the most overtime.
That’s not surprising because a fire lieutenant and regular firefighter are paid overtime to staff a tactical unit, Daly said.
Danbury has had this pilot program since 2019, but at the start of the pandemic required a fire lieutenant to always be one of the firefighters on the unit, he said.
Police earn time-and-ahalf for overtime based on their rank. For extra duty, police receive time-and-ahalf of a top-grade police officer, regardless of their rank, Ridenhour said. Private contractors, not the city, pays for extra duty.
Firefighters earn straight pay for overtime, Daly said.
Firefighters have mixed feelings on overtime because they get paid more, but also must work many hours, he said
“The extra hours just means extra hours of work,” he said. “You’re away from your home. You’re away from your family. This year, you’re working in COVID heightened conditions.”
Police may not work more than 16 hours in a 24-hour period.
Ridenhour said the department’s staffing levels are adequate.
“I believe that the authorized staffing levels are sufficient at this time but we constantly evaluate them,” he said. “We may need more in the future if the city continues to grow but we're doing OK for now.”
Danbury has 149 sworn personnel, but an effective strength of 139, according to the department’s latest report to City Council.
“Between testing, background checks, academy and field training it takes about a year to fill a vacancy, sometimes longer depending on the availability of academy seats,” Ridenhour said.
Four recruits are scheduled to graduate from the academy in the spring, with four more expected to start in April, he said. The department recently hired an officer that is certified in Connecticut and another certified in another state who may not need to complete the full academy, he said.
“So we are getting very close to our full staffing numbers,” Ridenhour said.
There’s a financial benefit to Danbury for overtime because the city does not need to pay another person’s salary, benefits and pension, Daly said.
“It’s cheaper for them to just pay us overtime,” he said.