A half-dozen Warren Fire Department overtime beneficiaries can live comfortably when they're not clocking in for extra shifts.
(Photo: Facebook/Tracy Jarrett)
"Three members of the Warren city fire department were paid more than $200,000 in 2020," reports Michigan Capitol Confidential, a news site of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "Three other fire department employees were each paid more than $190,000 in 2020."
Mayor Jim Fouts said the high pay came from overtime pay rates incurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fouts said the city has agreed to minimum-staffing requirements in the fire department union contract. The clause requires the city to maintain a certain level of staffing at all times.
He said that Covid-19 also made it difficult to replace retired firefighters because the organizations involved in searching for new firefighters were hit by the pandemic.
Last year's pay leader was a captain whose gross earnings totaled $206,411, according to the post by managing editor Tom Gantert of the Midland site.
A firefighter was paid $204,993 and a fire department sergeant collected $203,320.
