The Empire Center’s annual release of Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) payroll data on the SeeThroughNY transparency website made an especially big splash—highlighting a one-year increase of $420 million, or 16 percent, in MTA overtime payments during 2018. More than half that figure could be traced to the Long Island Railroad (LIRR), including $344,147 for a single LIRR employee who hauled in a total of nearly $462,000 in total pay in one year.
Prompted by our revelations, MTA chairman Pat Foye ordered an investigation of the authority’s overtime, explaining “recent reports on excessive overtime payments throughout our system are extremely concerning.” Several agencies continue to investigate overtime abuse among LIRR workers, including the Queens District Attorney and a federal prosecutor. Governor Cuomo has also gotten involved.
The MTA inspector general’s latest findings show 26 of the top 100 earners in 2018 were from one LIRR department, and at least four of the top earners were padding their overtime with excessive travel time. Timekeeping procedures have also been cited as a potential problem within the agency.
The investigation continues. Meanwhile, SeeThroughNY remains a unique and enormous repository of state and local government information including millions of individual payroll and pension records dating back to 2008, as well as collective bargaining agreements, comparative data on local government spending and tax burdens, and key details of the New York State budget that can be found nowhere else.
You can search our public payroll database on SeeThroughNY.net.
Empire Center’s recent MTA-related publications and analysis:
You may also like
What They Make 2026: North Country
Lewis County employees held nine of the North Country's ten highest-paid local government positions in fiscal year 2025-26, most of them physicians and medical staff, . Jeffery Hellinger, a Lewis County employee, was the highest paid, at $265,978.
Read More
What They Make 2026: Mohawk Valley
Eight local government employees in the Mohawk Valley had gross pensionable earnings of more than $200,000 in fiscal year 2025-26, . Four were county elected officials and three were Oneida County correction officers. The highest paid was Christina Pea Read More
What They Make 2026: Southern Tier
Mary Nobilski, a Steuben County employee, was the Southern Tier's highest-paid local government employee in fiscal year 2025-26, at $309,582, . She was the only local employee in the region paid more than Governor Hochul's $250,000 salary.
Stat Read More
What They Make 2026: Central New York
Syracuse police officers held all ten of the highest-paid local government positions in Central New York during fiscal year 2025-26, . John Tassini was the highest paid, at $282,861.
Statewide, the 179,222 employees of New York's counties, citi Read More
What They Make 2026: Finger Lakes
Rochester police officers held eight of the ten highest-paid local government positions in the Finger Lakes region during fiscal year 2025-26, . Robert Hill was the region's highest-paid employee, at $314,040.
Statewide, the 179,222 employees o Read More
What They Make 2026: Western New York
Erie County deputy sheriff Simon Biegasiewicz was Western New York's highest-paid local government employee in fiscal year 2025-26, at $305,077, followed by Buffalo firefighter Daniel Bossi at $300,488, . They were the only two local employees in the r Read More
What They Make 2026: Capital Region
An Albany police officer, Willie Flack, was the Capital Region's highest-paid local government employee in fiscal year 2025-26, at $279,370, . Police officers in Albany, Schenectady and Troy and the Town of Colonie held six of the region's ten highest- Read More
What They Make 2026: Mid-Hudson
Town of Ramapo police officers held four of the five highest-paid local government positions in the Mid-Hudson region during fiscal year 2025-26, led by Daniel Hyman at $421,338, the second-highest local government pay in the state, .
Statewide Read More