The city of Concord saw the number of employees earning a six-figure salary increase to exactly 100 in 2022.

As in past years, topping the list of city earners is City Manager Tom Aspell who made $217,507 last year.

The majority of the highest-paid, however, were public safety employees, with members of the police and fire departments comprising two-thirds of the 100 earning more than $100,000. Overtime pay played a significant role in these employees’ earnings, with the possibility of earning half of their base salary, or more, in overtime.

For example, in 2021, Concord saw its second employee top the $200,000 annual earnings mark when Fire Battalion Chief Derek Kelleher made $95,829 in overtime on top of his $107,617 in regular wages. A year later, Kelleher dropped back below the $200,000 mark but still remained the second-highest-paid employee, taking home $180,175, including $69,599 on overtime.

The third highest-paid employee in 2022 was Police Lieutenant Craig Levesque, who made a total of $161,822, including $62,450 in overtime.

Last year, total overtime in Concord decreased from 2021, but police overtime increased – a trend the city has experienced since the City Council gave the police department nearly $1 million extra in 2000, primarily to boost salaries and wage schedules to help recruit and retain more officers.

Police overtime grew by $125,000 over the previous year from $1.23 million to $1.36 million, salary records indicate. That represents a 10% increase even as city-wide overtime decreased by about 2%.

In contrast, the fire department experienced a reduction of almost $300,000 in overtime, which is a 10% decrease from the year before.

Both the fire department and police department added positions last year – two police and four paramedics – but both departments are experiencing vacancies due to turnover.

Overall city payroll, which includes overtime but not benefits, totaled $36.5 million last year.

The city of Concord posts the earnings and wage schedules of its employees on its own website. About three-quarters of city spending from Concord’s general fund – more than $50 million – goes to salaries and benefits each year.

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