Payroll Project: Big pay for public employees in little Moraine

The little city of Moraine paid eight employees more than $100,000 last year, according to a searchable database of payroll records assembled by the I-Team.

Moraine was the smallest city included in our recent analysis of the payroll of 19 area cities, townships and counties, which found overtime pay — especially for firefighters — pushing increasing numbers of local government paychecks into the six figures.

With a population of 6,365, Moraine has the same number of employees in the $100K club as Beavercreek, which has 45,934 residents. Beavercreek also has a higher median household income of $79,243, compared to $44,203 in Moraine.

Moraine’s highest-paid worker last year was Fire Lieutenant Philip Sinewe, who retired in September and cashed out sick leave and overtime, spiking his gross pay to $163,077.

The full roster of Moraine’s highest-paid workers last year were:

1. Fire Lieutenant Philip Sinewe: $163,077

2. City Manager David Hicks: $139,034

3. Police Sergeant Michael Keegan: $116,451

4. Fire Lieutenant Toby Matheney: $111,169

5. Fire Lieutenant Gary Rettig: $109,683

Local governments make payroll with your money. That's why the I-Team is using Ohio public records laws to assemble and analyze payroll data for governments across our region. Read our larger analysis of six-figure salaries across Miami Valley governments here.

Go here for a growing database — currently containing 177,215 names and salaries — of government employees who made more than $50,000 in gross compensation last year and in 2014.

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