Twenty-six Stoneham employees earned more than $100,000 in 2011, with the majority of the town's top 50 earners being from the police department, according to data provided by the treasurer/tax collector's office.

The top-paid employee was Stoneham Public Schools Superintendent Les Olson, who earned a salary of $149,147.78 in 2011. Stoneham High School Principal Donna Cargill was the second-highest paid school employee to crack the top 20, finishing in 20th with a salary of $105,823.33.

Following Olson, nine police officers rounded out the top 10. Police chief Richard Bongiorno finished second overall and was the highest-paid officer, earning $147,517.99. He was the only officer of the 23 on the top 50 earners list that didn't receive overtime or detail pay.

While some town employees may have earned a higher base salary, police and fire personnel generally made more overall when factoring in overtime and detail pay which was included in the data.

Sixteen officers made more than $100,000 in 2011; however, only three—Bongiorno and Lieutenants Richard McCarthy and James McIntyre—earned base salaries higher than $100,000, while the remaining 13 officers eclipsed $100,000 as a result of overtime and detail pay.

While officers may make more than $100,000, Bongiorno said they are logging long hours to earn the extra pay. He also elaborated on how salaries are determined while providing details with regard to detail and overtime pay.

"The salaries are negotiated salaries with Town Administrator (David Ragucci) and the respective police unions," Bongiorno said. "Details are not tax dollars coming from the community, and of course details are worked when officers are off-duty. 

"Overtime is a result of having to cover a minimum number of officers on a given shift. We certainly want to make sure we have adequate staffing, and there are many variables that cause overtime from vacations, personal days, bereavement days to on-duty injuries and those are variables that are known every single year."

Bongiorno said the department is in "pretty good shape on our FY12 (fiscal year 2012) overtime budget relating to police. We've held the line on what has been budgeted and we'll fall within our budgeted overtime accounts, so it's not excessive in relation to what other years have been."

Public works Director Robert Grover finished 14th on the list, earning a salary of $116,685.76. He was the top earner of the three DPW employees that made the list.

Meanwhile, Fire chief Joseph Rolli finished 18th overall on the top-earners list and was the highest-paid fire department employee with a salary of $110,536.36. Five other firefighters also made the list.

Other notable salaries include:

• Ragucci, who placed 11th on the list, made $123,710.73 in his role as town administrator. 
• William Solomon, the town's attorney, finished 21st with a salary of $103,133.38.
• Thomas Cicatelli, an information technology services employee, earned $92,445.92 to place 40th on the list.
• Ronald Florino, an accountant, finished in 44th place with a base salary of $91,807.34.

Here is a chart of the top 50 salaries of 2011 in town, including detail and overtime pay:

Do you think Stoneham employees are paid adequately for the work they do each day? Do you think they earn too much? Share your thoughts by posting a comment in the comments section below.