By Mark Stricherz | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Eight retired Pittsburgh public-safety workers received more than $60,000 last year in taxpayer-funded payouts for unused leave, according to an investigation by The Center Square.

In all, 17 municipal retirees in the Steel City cashed out more than $40,000 from unused leave for sickness, vacation, or personal reasons. All worked in either the police or fire bureaus.

Lawrence Mercurio, a police commander, received the most–$84,308. Christopher Ragland, an assistant police chief and acting chief of police, earned $82,422, while James McGee, a police detective, made $68,011. Two fire battalion chiefs, including Bernard Mohan, cashed out roughly $63,000.

The payouts amounted to roughly half to three-quarters of each man’s annual salary last year. Mercurio’s base pay was $141,876; Ragland’s was $150,384; McGee’s was $90,972; and Mohan’s $117,826.

The findings highlight how Pittsburgh’s public-safety unions kept unusually generous leave protections even after the city enacted sweeping fiscal reforms in 2004. City leaders sought to head off a looming fiscal crisis by trimming municipal spending, including limiting cash-outs for leave. Yet public-safety workers retained more generous protections than many civilian workers.

Steven G. Craig, a professor of economics at the University of Houston who studies urban economies and local governments, said that while he could not comment on the specifics of Pittsburgh’s finances, he said benefits like cash outs increase taxes and can prevent cities from being affordable.

“City workers’ wages can’t be too much above or below the market rate,” Craig said in an interview with The Center Square. “What you get is people in the city say the cops should get paid well because they’re doing a great job, but the people unrepresented in the discussion are people who want to move to the city, like young people or entrepreneurs who want to start a business there, but the extra $100 they pay in taxes prevents them from moving.”

Craig added, “You get a doughnut hole effect in which the center city hollows out while the suburbs grow. But that’s not good for the suburbs either because their economies depend on the center city.”

The City Controller’s office did not respond to a voicemail for comment.

Public safety workers on top

Pittsburgh provided payouts worth $2.3 million to 201 municipal employees last year, according to the City Controller, who responded to a request of records from The Center Square under Pennsylvania’s right-to-know law. Roughly 5% of the city’s approximately 4,000 workers received a payout for unused leave. Each worker cashed out $10,401 on average.

Thirty-four employees received $20,000 or more. All but one was a public safety employee. The lone civilian employee was Thomas Kenitz, an accountant for the City Controller.

Like their private-sector counterparts, Pittsburgh municipal workers receive allotted days off for illness, vacation, or personal reasons each year. Historically, many workers could bank or roll over unused leave for future use or retirement payouts.

Most private businesses cap the amount of sick and vacation leave that can be rolled over, preventing large payouts when an employee retires after a long time with the business. Often governments do not cap the rollovers or set substantially more generous limits than private businesses.

But Pittsburgh’s finances hit a low point in the early 2000s.

The city was projected to end 2004 with a debt of $34.3 million, and the figure was expected to grow to $100 million by 2008. To curb the debt, city leaders filed to be designated as a “financially distressed municipality.” With the help of state officials, they enacted a sweeping reform package that included cuts to city services and higher taxes.

Among the measures the city adopted was a general freeze on municipal workers banking unused sick leave after June 30, 2004.

Yet the reforms permitted more generous systems for workers operating under a collective bargaining agreement, including police, firefighters, and paramedics.

Vacation leave is capped at 200 hours at retirement. Firefighters are permitted to keep 70 percent of their unused sick leave. Police officers, firefighters, and paramedics often work holidays, overnight shifts, and extended schedules that can make it difficult to use accrued leave during their careers.

Ralph Sicuro, president of Pittsburgh Firefighters Local #1 Board of Directors, said Pittsburgh benefits from the 70-percent provision but it hurts employees.

“That’s sick leave I’ve earned, and I’m losing 30 percent,” Sicuro said in an interview. “This helps the city.”