Milford's Top 20 City Wage Earners Turns Up Some Surprises

In a compilation of the top 20 wage earners on the city side of Milford for the year 2011, five are retirees. So, perhaps the moral among city employees is to serve the city long and well—and, in the process, forego using the full, agreed-upon number of sick and vacation days. 

At the request of Milford Patch, the Finance Department compiled the list of the top 20 wage earners on the city side of government for the year 2011 last week.

The full list of the top 20 wage earners from the Finance Department accompanies this article as a PDF.

At the top of the city wage earners is , who accepted the position of assistant mayor last December to overwhelming acclaim. He had previously served Milford as deputy police chief for 34 years. For his brief tenure in his new position as assistant mayor last year, he received just over $3,400 as part of his total annual income of just over $240,000 for that year. 

According to the Finance Department, “For retirees, the amounts [cited] may include earned but unused vacation and/or sick time paid out upon retirement.”

The second top wage earner was former Police Lieutenant Gary Compare, who also retired last year. He received a payment of just over $163,000. 

The sums the Finance Department presented for wage owners who have retired do not include pension payments. 

The income earned by was nowhere in the top wage earners’ list. His salary, according to the approved FY 2011-12 budget posted on the city’s website, was $93,506 -- below the $102,244 sum at the bottom of the top-20 roster.  

Among non-retirees, Chief of Police Keith Mello, with a salary of roughly $134,500, ranked highest on the list. D. Andrew McBride, M.D., M.P.H., who is the city’s health director, ranks second among non-retired employees with a salary of nearly $128,000. Fire Chief Louis LaVecchia earned just over $119,000. 

Other persons who made the cut but whose income is not determined by bargaining agreements is Assessor Daniel Thomas and Finance Director Peter Erodici, each of whom earned just over $106,000.

John O’Connell, personnel director, said that the city side of Milford employs roughly 550 people. Of those, he said, a high percentage — perhaps as high as 80 to 90 percent — receive incomes based upon bargaining unit agreements.  A municipal ordinance covers wages and benefits for the city employees who are not represented in bargaining agreements, O’Connell said.

O’Connell said the incomes of both represented and non-represented employees are what he termed average for the area. According to the Connecticut Economic Research Council, the median household income in Milford for the year 2010 stood at $74,940.   

Tomorrow Milford Patch will publish an article on the top 20 wage earners on the Board of Education side.