Police work, firefighting and health care are among the best-paying occupations in the public sector, according to a survey released on Thursday.

Downstate police and firefighter salaries top the municipal list, with many well into the six figures, according to the fifth annual look at local government salaries by Empire Center for Public Policy, an independent non-profit think tank based in Albany.

Topping the list is the Amityville police department in Suffolk County, where the average salary of 23 officers was $175,818.

The state’s highest paid local official, according to the survey, was George Gatta Jr., executive vice president of Suffolk County Community College on Long Island, who was paid $359,632 before retiring in February. That was almost $130,000 higher than his reported salary the year before, according to the center.

In the Capital Region, the highest paid group of local employees was police, with many suburban cops averaging around $90,000.

The highest paid Capital Region employee was Dr. Timothy D. Landis, a psychiatrist with the Rensselaer County Mental Health Department, according to the survey. He earned $175,050.

Rensselaer County Mental Health Commissioner Kathy Coons said. She heads a full service mental health operation that provides care for both adults, adolescents and children, with satellite offices. Landis is part-time, but is one of the few physicians board-certified in adolescent psychiatry, and insurance covers much of the cost of treatment.

“It’s very difficult to find child psychiatrists,” Coons said. She said about 600 youngsters are under treatment in a given day.

The salaries, taken from pension enrollments, are those listed between April 1, 2012, through March 31, 2013, for employees who left or retired as well as those who were hired during that time.

The salaries used to compute averages include overtime and pay for unused sick and vacation time. The figures do not include pension contributions, health insurance and other fringe benefits.

©2013 Albany Times Union

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