Forget medical school or software development. You could make more money working in the borough hall.
Tiny Tullytown has a big borough payroll.
Last year, the town of just 1,835 residents had 38 government workers, records show. That’s one government employee for every 48 residents in a town spanning 2 square miles.
If the U.S. government operated that way, it would have three times its current federal workforce. Picture 6.7 million federal employees — more people than currently live in the cities of Los Angeles and Chicago combined.
And as taxpayers, you're footing the bill.
Wages paid to local government officials were the single largest taxpayer expense in Bucks County. Add it all up and local governments spent nearly $150 million on paychecks.
Earlier this year, this news organization filed more than 60 Right-to-Know requests with local government agencies seeking the names, job titles and total wages paid to all workers.
The average civil servant — full- or part-time — took home $46,000 in 2017, records show. (And, that's not including the cost of health care and other benefits.)
Wages were all over the place. Warwick’s now-retired manager Gail Weniger got paid $59,500, officials said. William McCauley, Bristol Township's manager, received $202,417, township records showed. Bristol Township and Warwick are about the same size geographically, although Bristol Township has three times as many residents.
Hilltown had the highest paid government workers in 2017. The average person on the township payroll took home $93,621 last year, records show. The lowest paid Hilltown worker, a police officer, received $31,961. The highest paid township employee, a police sergeant, took home $142,268, records show.
Higher wages are driven by longevity, explained township manager Lorraine Leslie.
"Thomas Buzby, our public works director, retired in January of this year after 46 years," she said. "Joseph Bollman of our public works department will be retiring in October of this year after 41 years. With the retirements and the hiring of entry level employees, our salary totals will be dropping in the coming years."
Neighboring Bedminster had half as many employees, earning on average about 20 percent less. Of the 14 people on payroll in 2017, the average worker took home $73,766 last year, records show.
The lowest paid Bedminster employee, an administrative assistant, took home $41,724. The highest paid, township manager Rich Schilling, received $119,657 in wages last year, according to the government.
Other municipalities operate without a single full-time employee.
Consider Langhorne and Tullytown. They have roughly the same population, but very different police departments.
Last year, Tullytown employed 15 police officers with an average wage of $40,191, records show. The borough employed two sergeants, earning $140,668 and $107,658, according to borough records. Tullytown’s chief, Dan Doyle, received $113,710, according to the borough.
Langhorne had nine cops — eight of them part-time — with an average wage of $13,935, borough records show. Langhorne’s only full-time officer, Chief Steven Mawhinney, was paid $51,280 in 2017, borough officials said.
Having a primarily part-time police force is certainly cheaper, though it can lead to problems, said Joseph Taylor, Langhorne’s mayor of five years.
“I have asked council for another full-time officer,” said Taylor. “Problem is: When the chief is on vacation, we need someone. If he’s out sick, we don’t have anyone working full time.”
Officials in Tullytown declined to discuss wages paid to employees. Emails and phone calls to the council president and vice president were not returned.
Falls had the highest paid police officers, earning an average wage of $140,612 in 2017, records show. Average wages for police were $130,822 in New Britain Township, $125,293 in Bensalem, $112,480 in Upper Southampton and $108,436 in Newtown Township, wage statements show.
Call 911 in the riverside hamlet of Riegelsville — with a population of 757 people — and your message is forwarded to state police.
It’s just too expensive to add cops, said Thomas Stinnett, Reigelsville borough councilman for 32 years. “If we added a police department even with just one full-time employee, we’d have to double the property taxes,” insisted Stinnett.
Last year, Riegelsville had just nine part-time employees — one for every 84 residents of in town. The borough hall closes at 2 p.m. The average employee took home just $10,957 for the year. The largest paycheck of $38,188 went to a part-time code enforcement officer.
“We only have him here on three Wednesdays a month,” said Stinnett. “He’ll come to town when we need him.”
Other towns have dozens of full- and part-time administrative assistants. Consider Bensalem and Bristol Township, two towns of about the same size and population.
Bristol Township had 12 administrative assistants on the payroll last year, records show.
Bensalem had 45 people in such posts, including 14 communications officers, nine clerks and nine secretaries, records show. Steering that ship, Bensalem's full-time mayor Joe DiGirolamo received $96,310, records show. His primary assistant was paid $97,797, according to the township.
The mayor’s compensation is set by local ordinance, explained DiGirolamo. "Many of the folks here make more (money) than I make," DiGirolamo said. "We have people who’ve been here a long time. These are qualified people and I’m not going to fire someone just because they are getting more money. You do that and you lose the experience and the skill level. We have some professional people here, and we’re getting the job done.”