A Lewis County doctor was the highest-paid municipal government worker in the North Country during the state’s 2019 fiscal year, according to the latest edition of “What They Make,” the Empire Center’s annual report summarizing total local government pay.

Dr. Gerard A. Crawford, an OBGYN at Lewis County General hospital, was paid $275,000 during the 12-month period ending March 31, the Empire Center analysis found. Six of the top ten employees in the North Country were also medical professionals.

Other data highlights for local government employees in the North Country region, which includes Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties:

• The highest-paid police department in the North Country was in the Village of Gouverneur, whose six department employees were paid $73,631 on average.
• The City of Plattsburgh’s fire department was the highest-paid in the region, with the 37 fire department employees averaging $88,674.
• The highest-paid general employees in the North Country were the Village of Lake Placid’s 57 civilian employees, paid $54,171 on average.

The names, employers, system and pay of the top 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.