The highest-paid local government workers in New York state were employees of a small village on Long Island’s north shore, according to the latest edition of “What They Make,” the Empire Center’s annual report summarizing total local government pay.

The Village of King’s Point, serving an affluent community on Long Island’s north shore, paid its 19 police officers an average of $254,581, up slightly from last year’s average of $223,935. The Village’s 17 non-uniformed employees were paid an average of $93,604.

Other data highlights for local government employees in Long Island:

  • The highest-paid fire department in Long Island was in the City of Long Beach, whose 18 employees were paid an average of $132,306.
  • The highest-paid local government employee in the region was Juan C. Regueiro, a Suffolk County Deputy Sheriff who collected $363,073.
  • Seventeen of the nineteen local government employees that made more than $300,000 throughout New York were in Long Island.
  • Thirty-eight employees collected pay over $200,000 by working for two local government employers, up from 30 the previous year. Twenty-five of the 38 were Suffolk County employees (up from 20 last year) who were also paid by a village police department.
  • Nine of the ten highest-paid local government employees in Long Island were law enforcement officers.

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

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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.

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