A Buffalo detective was the highest-paid municipal employee in Western New York during the 2019 fiscal year, according to the latest edition of “What They Make,” the Empire Center’s annual report summarizing total local government pay.

Scott R. Malec, a homicide detective with the Buffalo Police Department, was paid $216,035 during the 12-month period ending March 31, the Empire Center analysis found.

Other data highlights for local government employees in the Western New York region, which includes Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara counties:

• The top paying police department in the region was in the Town of Amherst, whose 152 employees collected $108,467 on average.
• The 38 employees in the City of North Tonawanda’s fire department had the highest average pay of fire departments in the region with $85,216.
• The highest-paid general employees in Western New York were in the City of Jamestown where 287 employees averaged $52,282.

The names, employers, system and pay of the 10 highest-paid local government employees in the region are below:

The amounts listed in the report do not include fringe benefits such as health insurance or pension contributions, which can add more than 35 percent to the cost for taxpayers.

Click here to read the full report.

The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies that can make New York a better place to live, work and raise a family.