Depending on what’s included in the calculation, Warwick firefighters may not have had the highest average wage of firefighters in Rhode Island in 2021.

That’s the conclusion of City Finance Director Peder Schaefer reached after reviewing what went into the report prepared by the Rhode Island Expenditure Council and reported in last Thursday’s Beacon. The report found Warwick firefighters were paid an average of $95,207 as compared to East Greenwich, the second highest paid firefighters at $86,798. Cranston firefighters made an average of $71,550.

In a letter dated Jan. 24 to Mayor Frank Picozzi, Schaefer says RIPEC’s calculations are consistent with the information the city provided for Fiscal Year 2021. “$17.3 million in compensation divided by 182 firefighters equals $95,207.”

Schaefer explains that a part of the high cost is related to “not having hired any firefighters for five years so that all firefighters were at top step.” He says he believes that the per employee numbers at the end of 2022 will be down, “because there are more lower paid firefighters.

That doesn’t account for the high average pay for 2021.

Schaefer said that the city incorrectly failed to include dispatch personnel in its data in the appropriate category, which would have lowered the average cost per employee. Further the city included all components of compensation other than overtime when unused sick time and automatic holiday pay should have been excluded.

Schaefer recalculated the average firefighter salary based on a count of 191 personnel, an increase of nine and taking out the unused sick time and holiday pay.  The adjustments resulted in total compensation of $15.8 million for the year which when divided by the 191 personnel resulted in an average firefighter pay of $82,875 for 2021, making Warwick firefighters with the second highest average  pay in the state for 2021.

Schaefer went a step further to look at the preliminary cost for FY 22. On the basis of 213 personnel and a total compensation package of $16.5 million, the average pay is $77,696.

The issue of average pay was raised by Robert Cushman when asked to comment on the tentative firefighters’ agreement with the administration that the City Council is expected to vote one in a special meeting Monday starting at 6 p.m. at City Hall.  Cushman has questioned  the process of reviewing the tentative agreement that included an executive session between the council and the city’s negotiating team.  The contract that would be retroactive to last July if approved would give firefighters a 2.5 percent raise in the current year followed by two years of 3.875 percent increases.  The projected additional cost of the contract is $2.7 million.

Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur has expressed his disappointment that the agreement does not on retirees to share in the cost of health care.

It does, however, includes a provision for active employees to make a 2 percent contribution to other than pension post employment benefits should municipal employees and police sign on to a similar agreement when negotiating their contracts.