#  LA Firefighter Trio Earns Nearly $1 Million In OT Pay (Again)

     Details    Transparent California Report   ![logo](https://www.citywatchla.com//templates/ja_teline_v/images/logo.png)         May 08 2017      [  ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/May-2017/15039a.png)    ](https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/13187-la-firefighter-trio-earns-nearly-1-million-in-ot-pay-again)

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> WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES--Three Los Angeles city firefighters earned a combined $1.36 million last year — $974,779 of which came from overtime pay alone, according to just-released 2016 salary data from [TransparentCalifornia.com.](http://www.npri.org/track/trackurl.asp?q=nocsaToartoC)
>
> The trio was able to boost their earnings so dramatically as a result of having received the three largest overtime payouts of the more than [550,000 workers surveyed](http://www.npri.org/track/trackurl.asp?q=12svmqotourq) statewide:
>
> 1. Fire captain Charles Ferrari received $334,655 in OT, with total earnings of $**469,198**.
> 2. Fire captain James Vlach received $332,583 in OT, with total earnings of **$469,158**.
> 3. Firefighter Donn Thompson received $307,542 in OT, with total earnings of **$424,913**.
>
> Remarkably, this is the trio’s 2nd year in a row as the state’s top overtime earners, having also topped the of the more than [2.4 million government workers](http://www.npri.org/track/trackurl.asp?q=eeanwat5mreu) surveyed in 2015.
>
> **Thompson earns $1.23M over 3 years**
>
> Thompson’s overtime pay was at least the 3rd highest of the more than 2 million public workers surveyed in each of the past three years, boosting his total earnings to [$1,229,504](http://www.npri.org/track/trackurl.asp?q=5stneosfp3yh).
>
> **Six-figure OT payouts at the LAFD up 760%**
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> Over the past five years, the number of Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) workers who earned at least $100,000 in overtime pay increased by 760 percent, rising from 51 in 2012 to an all-time high of 439 last year.
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> By comparison, there was only one fire employee in the entire state of Nevada who earned over $100,000 in overtime pay last year, according to [TransparentNevada.com](http://www.npri.org/track/trackurl.asp?q=thtatertstrT).
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> **LAFD’s OT at national-high levels**
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> At $197 million, overtime pay accounted for 31 percent of LAFD’s total budget for the 2016 fiscal year. This dwarfs the rate of other major fire departments like New York (19%), Orange County (12%), San Diego (12%), Houston (5%) and Phoenix (3%).
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> In response, Transparent California research director Robert Fellner stated:
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> “The issue is not a lack of solutions. Those have been forthcoming from a coalition of experts, including those from LAFD’s own ranks, for decades. The issue is lack of a political will for the precise reasons an official outlined nearly two decades ago: fear of political retaliation.”
>
> Transparent California’s full report on overtime pay at the LAFD can be [found here.](http://www.npri.org/track/trackurl.asp?q=rtpot22roec1)
>
> **Port Pilots earn over $500k**
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> The three highest-compensated Los Angeles city employees were:
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> 1. Chief port pilot II Michael Rubino, who earned: [**$582,734**.](http://www.npri.org/track/trackurl.asp?q=tssehpgultal)
> 2. Port pilot II John Betz, who earned: [**$501,907.**](http://www.npri.org/track/trackurl.asp?q=la0r0rnt0his)
> 3. Chief port pilot II John Dwyer, who earned: [**$488,607.**](http://www.npri.org/track/trackurl.asp?q=nstdsop0gast)
>
> To view a more detailed version of this release, please [click here.](http://www.npri.org/track/trackurl.asp?q=rtpot22roec1)
>
> *(Transparent California is California’s largest and most comprehensive database of public sector compensation and is a project of the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a nonpartisan, free-market think tank. Learn more at* [*TransparentCalifornia.com*](http://www.npri.org/track/trackurl.asp?q=u2ciecqtimgh)*.)*
>
> *-cw*

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