200 Tucson cops, firefighters were paid more than $100,000 in 2016

More than 200 Tucson police and fire employees were paid over $100,000 in 2016, a good portion of which came from sources of pay other than their base salaries, such as overtime and special-duty, city records show.

The Tucson Police Department paid its employees more than $84 million last year, of which $60 million was base salaries. The Fire Department paid out nearly $53 million, and $38 million of that was base pay.

Out of 1,317 Tucson Police Department employees, 148 were paid above $100,000, but only 19 made more than that amount in base pay. The other 129 crossed the threshold with other pay categories and cash benefits, of which there are dozens of different types, including overtime, military pay, vehicle allowance and sick-leave buyback.

Six of the 148 police employees were civilians, working in areas like communications, forensics and the air unit, but the other 142 were commissioned officers, which included 57 sergeants, 17 detectives, 19 officers and 49 members that ranked lieutenant or above.

All of the police employees with base salaries of more than $100,000 were commissioned officers ranking at lieutenant or above.

The median base salary for all commissioned and civilian police employees was $45,558. For all Tucson Fire Department employees, the median base salary was $51,191. With special pay, the median salary for police rose to $63,257 and for firefighters, $67,926.

In 2008, 141 police employees took home more than $100,000, with 35 of those employees making more than $100,000 in base pay.

The highest paid department employee last year was police Capt. Fabian Pacheco, who received $202,000 in pay, $100,000 of which came from his base salary, the rest through a deferred retirement payment and unused sick and vacation time paid when he retired. Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus was paid roughly $189,000 last year, with a base salary of nearly $174,000.

A good portion of the extra pay for Tucson police officers came from overtime, which Joyce Garland, the city’s chief financial officer and assistant city manager, said is to be expected.

“When you have an officer who is getting to the end of their shift and they’re working on some type of crime, they’re not just going to leave,” she said. “They’re going to continue to work on whatever case they’re on.”

The Police Department also receives federal grant money, some from the Department of Homeland Security, that helps pay for the overtime. “There are some times that the officer will work his or her regular shift and then go do the grant work on overtime, and the grant will cover that pay,” Garland said.

Despite the 2016 salaries, Tucson police officers are still paid below fair market value, said Tucson Police Officer Association President Roland Gutierrez.

“I believe we’ve only received one raise in eight years, so the situation is stagnant,” he said. “Especially as officers become more experience and get more training.”

The department is losing an average of six officers a month, recently to Marana, Oro Valley, Phoenix and Sahuarita.

“The data from surrounding municipalities show that they receive fewer calls and have higher pay than TPD,” he said. “All we want is fair market value.”

The opportunities for officers to earn overtime and special assignment pay also aren’t readily available to everyone, since many of the federal grants to pay overtime are directed at a specific unit, such as DUI enforcement.

“For patrol officers, the majority of overtime comes from call-outs, extra duty and if the officer works a night shift, going to court,” Gutierrez said.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Special assignment opportunities have also decreased, since the department’s reorganization at the end of the last fiscal year, he said, adding that many of the assignments are now gone.

In December, the Tucson City Council approved a measure to add a half-cent city sales tax to the May ballot, of which the revenue would be used to improve roads and purchase equipment for the police and fire departments. In January, the departments asked the council to approve nearly $150 million in new vehicles, equipment and facilities, to be paid for if the sales tax measure passes.

In recent weeks, TPOA members have been visiting neighborhoods and talking to community members about the proposed sales-tax increase. Several residents have asked why it won’t be used for salaries or to provide raises, Gutierrez said.

Fire Department

Of the 816 employees of the Tucson Fire Department, 55 employees were paid more than $100,000 last year. Three earned that money through base salaries and the other 52 increased their earnings through other types of pay. Many of the higher-paid employees were chiefs or battalion chiefs, but a number of employees assigned to the hazardous materials or other specialty areas were also paid higher base wages.

One of the pay categories, referred to as extra time, is paid to firefighters who work 24 shifts, Garland says.

That schedule consists of 24 hours on followed by 24 hours off for a period of 10 days. After that, the employee will be off for the next six days, Garland says.

“According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, we have to pay them overtime for those hours, and we put those into the extra time,” she said.

Those employees work a total of 56 hours per week.

Because the Fire Department is operating on a full-staffing model, the opportunity is there for firefighters to pick up overtime if they want. If someone calls in sick, there’s a list of employees willing to work overtime and someone will be called in, Garland said.

Fire department employees can also earn overtime through training academies, of which there is a set staff.

Lead training captains are eligible for 10 hours of overtime each week during an academy, and paramedics can earn overtime for some required medical classes, which are completed on the employee's day off in order to not reduce staffing, Garland said. 

"There are firefighters who are specifically trained and certified as peer trainers with specific knowledge and exercises designed for firefighters and focusing on injury prevention while getting properly fit for the job," Garland said. "Again, the firefighter trainer provides classes that consists of a few hours a week which requires bringing the firefighters in on overtime.  This prevents having to pull them from the field for the duration of the class."

When classes are too large and require more trainers than the core staff, firefighters, paramedics and engineers can be pulled to the training academy and overtime can be used to fill those vacancies in the field, she said.

The Fire Department also offers payouts for unused sick leave, and when an employee leaves or retires they also get a vacation payout, Garland says.

In terms of military pay for both departments, Garland said that when a police or fire employee has orders to be gone, the city makes up the difference between what the federal government pays and what the employee would be earning for the city.

The 2016 salary information doesn’t include health and pension benefits, which can add 20 percent or more to an employee’s take-home pay.