Report: North Providence Official Collecting Two City Salaries

NORTH PROVIDENCE, RI — A top official at North Providence Town Hall has been collecting two public salaries, an apparent violation of the town charter, WPRI's Target 12 investigatory team has discovered.

Maria Vallee is the longtime town controller. Three years ago, she became finance director as well, without giving up the first job. In fiscal 2020, she took home $181,000 because of the unusual arrangement, including a retroactive $34,000 from a union settlement. Only one of her positions, controller, is covered by collective bargaining.

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The town charter states that any department head who holds two positions can be "paid only for the position paying the highest compensation." That would have been the job of controller, with its $78,393 salary. The finance director job pays $54,911.

North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi defended the arrangement, telling Target 12 "There's not one evening you could come in here that she's not here until like 5, 5:30... She gets the job done."

Lombardi later got back to the news outlet to say he and Town Council President Dino Autiello would work to transition Vallee to serve only as finance director.

Read More at WPRI-12