Brookline Town Salaries: Who Made The Most Money In 2020

BROOKLINE, MA — Fewer than 30 town employees made more than $200,000 in 2020, but only Town Manager Mel Kleckner's base salary topped the $200,000 mark, according to town data obtained by Patch.

Otherwise, the town's payroll for calendar year 2020 showed that the police department dominated the highest paid town employees after factoring in non-salary bonuses, incentives, detail work and retro union payments.

Lt. Michael McCarthy an officer who works in the patrol division had a base salary of $107,395.07But after overtime, detail work and other bonuses and payouts were factored in he walked away with a gross pay of $296,596.25 for the calendar year, making him the highest-paid employee in Brookline, once again.

Right behind him was Lt. Michael Murphy, whose base pay was $113,521.54 but after overtime, detail work and other factors ended with $265,306.21

Similarly to past years, the employees with the highest salary for the town and schools included the town administrator, two deputy superintendents of schools and the fire and police chiefs. In 2020, the interim superintendent of schools and the head of the Department of Public works didn't make the list as both were in transition.

Mary Ellen Normen, a deputy superintendent of schools, has the highest base salary of any woman employed with the town and the second-highest base salary overall. Town Counsel Joslin Murphy, town council, has the highest base salary of any woman working for the town who is not a school employee.

When it came to the highest earners after detail work (mostly paid by third-party contractors), educational bonuses, overtime and retroactively paid union contracts, several police officers were among the highest earners. All 10 were men:

Jennifer Paster, a lieutenant in the police department had the highest gross salary for a woman. She ranked as the 27th highest earner in the town overall.

A look at the top 10 base salaries in Brookline for town employees:

In 2017, some 17 employees broke the $200,000 mark when salary adjustments such as overtime are factored in. In 2018, by contrast, only 12 employees earned more than $200,000, according to Town records. In 2019 that number went up to 31. For 2020, the number edged downward slightly to 29.

Town administrator's office stressed there are a few factors that skew the data, limiting an “apples to apples” comparison of wages.

The majority of the money in "other income" are contractual pay outside base pay, including Quinn and Non-Quinn payments, education and career incentives, longevity pays, EMT and other specialty pay, pay for uniform allowances, annual buyouts (think: vacation, sick bonuses), additional contract days, mentoring, advisors, after school sports, tutoring, workshops, as listed in collective bargaining. The pay also accounts for stipends and retro pay, and workers compensation. This year, new COVID-related pay was also included in the over time pay.

There were some retro payments for police union bargaining units.

Here's a look at the full list via the Town of Brookline:

Previously: Which Town Employees Made More Than $200K In 2019

• Brookline Town Salaries: Who Made The Most Money in 2018
• Who Made The Most Money in 2017

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).