The 10 highest-paid employees of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) last year were police officers who collected more than $370,000 each, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
The Port Authority’s 1,916 Police Department employees were paid an average of $172,151, with 86 of them collecting more than $300,000.
Police employees averaged $43,778 in overtime, which varied significantly based on rank. The Port Authority’s 16 Detective Sergeants averaged $118,990 each in overtime, followed by:
- Detective Lieutenants (average overtime: $85,019)
- Police Lieutenants ($70,025)
- Police Sergeants ($59,876)
- Detectives ($51,232)
- Rank-and-file Police Officers ($39,583).
Between 2017 and 2022, the Port Authority’s total payroll grew almost 27 percent, even as the number of employees was virtually unchanged.
More recently, between 2021 and 2022, total overtime surged 33 percent, from $130 million to $177 million. A total of 236 Port Authority employees last year collected more than $100,000 in overtime, including 177 Police Department employees.
The top overtime recipient was Detective Sergeant James Graf, whose $227,291 in overtime, along with payouts for waived time-off, brought his total pay to $509,801 and also made him the Port Authority’s highest-paid employee.
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