More than 120 employees of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) collected $300,000 or more during the city’s 2018 fiscal year, according to the latest payroll data added to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. The top 2017 paycheck at DEP was $216,112.
While many of these individuals—all stationary engineers or senior stationary engineers—racked up substantial overtime pay, the majority of these high paychecks likely came from lump sum payments agreed to in their union’s 2015 collectively bargained memorandum of agreement (MOA). This MOA expired in October 2017, so it is possible a new, yet-undisclosed agreement is also contributing to these unusually high payouts.
Citywide, 250 government employees more than doubled their pay with overtime last year. Of this group, 56 worked for the Department of Correction, and 48 worked for the Housing Authority. In fiscal 2017, a total of 313 city employees doubled their pay with overtime.
The city’s top overtime earner last year was Bhavesh N Patel, a stationary engineer in the Department of Environmental Protection who collected $237,390 for a total city paycheck of $539,098. A total of 140 employees were paid over $100,000 in overtime; among them, 45 worked for the Department of Correction.
The overtime counts do not include payments to undercover law enforcement officers. The Empire Center has sued the city Office of Payroll Administration for access to amounts paid to those individuals on an anonymous, identity-protected basis.
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.
You may also like
Six-figure NYSLRS pensions quadruple in ten years
The number of New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) retirees eligible for six-figure pensions quadrupled over the last seven years. Read More
Average Pay Spiked at Port Authority in 2021
Average pay for Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) employees increased nearly 10 percent last year, to $123,000. Read More
Over 700 MTA Employees Earned More in OT than Regular Pay in 2021, Data Show
More than 300 employees were paid at least $100,000 in overtime and at least 734 earned more in overtime than in regular pay at the MTA last year Read More
Legislative Spending Unevenly Divided Among Members
Spending by state lawmakers on office personnel and administrative costs varies widely, with some paying out nearly twice as much as others Read More
State OT, Salaries Up in 2021
Overtime pay for state employees rose to nearly $1 billion, and salaries increased by six percent during the 2021 calendar year, according to data posted today to SeeThroughNY.net Read More
Public School Retiree Pensions Set New Record
Average pension benefits for newly retired public educators outside New York City reached a record high last year Read More
Most Long Island Educators Paid at Least $100,000 Last Year
18% of all public-school teachers and administrators employed by school districts outside New York City were paid over $100,000 last year Read More
New Public Authority Payroll Data Now Posted at SeeThroughNY
2020 payroll data for a total of 79,146 employees at 331 different New York State public authorities is now posted at SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More
Enjoying our work? Sign up for email alerts on our latest news and research.