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When it comes to raises for cops and firefighters, the question in Boston seems to be, "What recession?" Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis recommended major salary increases for his command staff, which were expected to be approved by Mayor Thomas M. Menino. Like a lot of things, the pay raises for the Boston Police supervisors line up nicely with an episode of Seinfeld. It's the episode where George lobbies his boss for a raise for his secretary and then is horrified to find out his underling now makes more than he does.
In Boston, Commissioner Davis says he had to give the supervisors a 14 percent salary boost so that the supervisors weren't making less than the individuals they supervise. "These are very difficult decisions,'' Davis told reporters for the Boston Globe.
"We understand the whole fiscal emergency, but at some point you need to establish a level playing field, so that captains don't make more than the people who are supervising them.''
But the fiscal watchdogs are barking loudly in Beantown. Taxpayer watchdogs say that such hikes are increasingly difficult to sustain in an economic climate that has caused the city to cut services, closed libraries and lay off teachers.
"We're in a very strange period of time to be offering such an extravagant increase at a time when most people are looking for jobs,'' Matthew Cahill, executive director of the Boston Finance Commission, a state- appointed fiscal watchdog agency told the Globe.
The increase will positively impact 20 superintendents and deputy superintendents.
They currently make a base salary of $113,000 to $137,000 and directly supervise the department's captains, lieutenants and sergeants.
Unlike other police officials, they cannot earn overtime, but their salaries can be significantly boosted through vacation buybacks and other perks.
The 14 percent increase for the supervisors covers a four-year period retroactive to 2006.
The city estimates that it will cost about $900,000, an average of $45,000 for each officer, to fund the lump-sum payments. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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