Earlier this month, the Jamestown City Council received information on the highest paid city employees in 2018 and year-to-date in 2019.

The Post-Journal filed a Freedom Of Information Law request with the city to acquire the employee salary information for both years. The report shows that the highest paid employees both years have mostly been members of the Jamestown police and fire departments.

Year-to-date, as of Sept. 9, the top three highest paid employees were all retirees which, on top of their base salary, also receive buyout packages that include pay for unused sick and vacation time.

The highest paid employee in 2019 was a battalion chief who made $204,120. The second highest paid employee was a firefighter at $138,207. The third highest paid city employee was a police lieutenant at $128,016.

P-J file photo by Eric Tichy

Joseph Bellitto, city comptroller, said retirees receive an accumulated buyout package that includes sick and vacation days. He said sick days are accumulated for all city employees and can be carried over year-to-year until they retire. He added that vacation days are different for each collective bargaining unit for whether a city employee can sell them back or roll it over into the next year.

Bellitto said there is even a career longevity bonus for retiring employees who notify city officials at least a year in advance. He said the bonus is $2,600 and it doesn’t matter how long the employee has worked for the city.

In 2018, the top three highest paid employees were also all retirees. Chet Harvey, former deputy fire chief, was the highest paid employee at $255,875. The second highest paid employee was a police detective at $142,163. The third highest paid employee was a firefighter at $139,785.

Bellitto said Harvey was part of the city’s management group and was able to sell up to 200 sick days and the vacation he had accumulated at the time of his retirement.

In 2019, 20 of the top 25 highest paid city employees are members of the fire and police departments, with 45 of the top 50 also being members of the two departments.

Jamestown Police Department P-J file photo

In 2018, 24 of the top 25 employees were fire and police departments employees, with again 45 of the top 50 also being members of the two departments. In 2018, the only top 25 highest paid city employee not a member of the fire or police departments was Bellitto, who made $94,776.

In 2019, the highest paid employee year-to-date that is not a member of the fire and police departments is Marilyn Fiore-Lehman, former city corporation counsel, at $103,490. Fiore-Lehman resigned as the city corporation counsel in April to join the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office as an assistant district attorney. However, she has continued to work part-time for the city because of the ongoing arbitration case with the police department and the proposed annexation of the Dow Street Jamestown Board of Public Utilities substation in the village of Falconer in the town of Ellicott.

In 2018, working full-time the entire year for the city, Fiore-Lehman made a total of $93,065.

Of the highest paid employees still working full-time for the city this year, Harry Snellings, police chief and city public safety director, earned the most at $85,277.

As for the city’s mayor, Sam Teresi, he wasn’t included in the top 100 highest earnings either year. This year so far, he has made $49,844, which was 101st. In 2018, he made $72,000, which was 107th.

According to the Empire Center for Public Policy’s annual report, the highest paid general employees in Western New York were in Jamestown, with 287 employees averaging $52,282. The amounts listed in the report do not include fringe benefits such as health insurance or pension contributions, which can add more than 35% to the cost for taxpayers.

The report can be viewed by going to empirecenter.org/publications/what-they-make-2018-19.

Earlier this month, the council also received a residence report. The report detailed that of the 399 city employees, including the BPU, 216 live in the city, or 54%. Of the 148 BPU employees, 61% percent live in the city. Of the 251 non-BPU employees, 50% live in the city.

Of the 54 fire department employees, 30% live in the city. Of the 62 police department employees, 27% live in the city.