A new report out today from the non-profit think-tank, Empire Center in Albany, shows the top average pay for upstate New York police officers, and Amherst is at the top of the list, with police in the town making just under $110,000 a year.
In all the 48 upstate counties the top four communities with the highest police pay are all in Erie County. After Amherst it's the city of Buffalo, the Town of Lancaster and the Village of Hamburg, all paying it's police officers just over $100,000 a year. These numbers are pay only and do not include pension or health benefits.
If it sounds likes a lot to you, here's why. Uniformed police and fire contracts in New York are negotiated under the Taylor Law, which allows unions to go to binding arbitration, that has caused police and fire pay hikes of more than twice the rate of other local government employees, over the past 40 years.
Police pay is even higher downstate where some areas on Long Island are paying officers as much as $136,000 a year.
 |
Live video, the latest news and no surveys - download the WKBW app |
 |
News, forecast and Bills newsletters delivered to your e-mail inbox |
