SF Firefighters Raking In Overtime, Among Highest-Paid City Workers
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Some San Francisco firefighters are among the highest paid of all city workers, earning even more than their boss.
That's according to KPIX, KCBS and SF Chronicle Insider Phil Matier who reports in his Matier & Ross column that 62 of the city's 100 highest-paid workers are firefighters and all of them made more than $250,000 in 2013.
The city's highest paid worker is Fire Battalion Chief Samson Lai. He made $347,000 last year, $131,000 of which was in overtime pay.
In comparison Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White earns $336,922 a year, while Police Chief Greg Suhr earns $339,282 a year.
Overall, the fire department's overtime bill was $43.8 million last year, an increase of almost $10 million in the last decade.
San Francisco's auditor attributes the rise to the city's practice of using overtime to cover shifts instead of hiring new firefighters.