NOLA.com
JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — The top two Fire Department officials in the Jefferson Parish government administration are simultaneously collecting parish salary, state pay and state pension benefits, an unusual combination that has drawn criticism from the firefighters union. The administration doesn’t object, but the head of the firefighters union calls the triple dipping “pension fraud.”
Fire Director Joe Greco’s total compensation is $167,675 a year, with only $79,800 of that coming from his parish salary, according to information provided by the Jefferson Parish administration and Firefighters Retirement System Assistant Director David Saunders makes $198,217, of which the parish pay is only $110,302.92. A third employee, clerk typist Kathleen Donovan, also has three income sources totaling $77,977, which is 130 percent of her regular salary.
The overlapping state and local pay has come to light as the union and the administration argue over job classifications for 14 positions, including those of Greco, Saunders and Donovan. The dispute is holding up pay raises for about 250 rank-and-file firefighters in the East Bank Consolidated Fire Department.
Full story: Jefferson Parish fire officials making far more than their salaries