By Alexandra Fenwick
Staff Writer
January 2, 2008
NORWALK - When Sgt. Russell Fallo joined the Norwalk Police Department 34 years ago, his salary was about $8,000. In 2007, he made about 25 times that amount to become the city's third-highest compensated employee.
"It was much simpler times and if a person made $8,000 to $10,000 a year, that was a lot of money," Fallo said.
Fallo, who earns a base salary of $76,449, nearly tripled his paycheck by taking on an estimated 40 to 50 hours of overtime and extra work jobs every week for a total of $202,905.
He took the top cop position on the salary list from Sgt. Roger Connell, who retired in May after 43 years in the department. Connell earned $182,429 in 2006, when Fallo held the No. 4 spot on the list with $178,148.
The list of the city's top 100 salary earners for 2007 put Fallo behind assistant superintendent Karen Lang at $225,668 and perennial chart-topper, schools Superintendent Salvatore Corda at $251,380.
"I see the normal cast of characters in the top 10," said city Comptroller Frederic Gilden. The number of workers earning six-figure salaries has not changed much, but the top-tier salaries in that category are "significantly higher" than in years past, he said.
Three more employees made six figures in 2007, for a total of 255. Four broke the $200,000 ceiling. Only Corda held that distinction in 2006.
The city and school system's 3,789 employees - 2,031 of whom are full-time - were paid $156.4 million in 2007, a nearly 16 percent increase over 2006, when 3,724 employees were paid $134.7 million, Gilden said.
The average salary in the top 100 was up nearly 4 percent over 2006, from $132,892 to $137,765.
Extra-work pay earned through an increased demand for officers to work "dirt jobs" at construction projects, including two power line projects along Route 1 and Main Avenue, put more police personnel than ever in the top 100.
Of the top 25 salary earners, 17 were law enforcement officers. Police personnel make up nearly half of the top 100, with 45 spots. Last year, 31 made the list.
Charges for police extra-work duties have risen by more than 55 percent.
In 2006, extra-work billing charges totaled just over $2 million, according to the city's principal accountant, Sal Iannacone. In 2007, that figure has risen to more than $3.1 million, Iannacone said.
Extra work is not the same as police overtime, which involves official police busines and is paid for by taxpayers.
Since extra-work jobs are billed to private contractors, the pay is not passed on directly to taxpayers. In power line projects, the costs are passed on to ratepayers.
School employees made up the next largest contingent with 39 among the city's top earners.
The Board of Education's 1,300 employees, including about 900 teachers, are on pace to earn $92.6 million in salaries for the 2007-08 fiscal year.
Many fire department personnel, who numbered 22 among the top 100 in 2006, were knocked off the 2007 list by the large number of police.
Only eight fire department personnel made the 2007 list, including Fire Chief Denis McCarthy. He came in at No. 92 with $122,018 in gross pay.
But other department heads, including Mayor Richard Moccia and Police Chief Harry Rilling, did not crack the top 100.
Despite an increase over his 2006 salary of $96,452, Moccia dropped from No. 285 to No. 301 with $96,978. Rilling clocks in at 215 with $102,950.
The extra pay does not come without sacrifices, Fallo said.
"You give up a tremendous amount, time with your family and some vacation time and you give up time for yourself. There's a lot of things you could be doing, housework, yardwork, there's a lot of things you kind of miss," he said.
And the hours and conditions don't exactly make it a cushy job, he said.
"It's not just gravy money. You've got to come out on a miserable night, when you don't want to and it's cold out."
But Fallo, 53, who heads a single-income family with two children in college and another about to join them, regularly signs up for the extra work because living in Fairfield County requires it, he said.
The median income for the Stamford-Norwalk area is about $111,000 a year, according to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
"In Fairfield County, really $100,000 is pretty much a bare-bones number the way things are going around here now. And with a couple of college tuitions and a couple of things, you want to have to give your family a little extra, $200,000 does not go as far as people think it goes," Fallo said. "Compared to some executives in Fairfield County, my $200,000 wouldn't even be a pimple."
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