Number of MBTA workers earning six figures soars

The number of MBTA employees taking home six-figure pay skyrocketed nearly 40 percent last year, a staggering jump one fiscal watchdog said is on track to derail the system.

T spending is out of control, said Gregory W. Sullivan, former state inspector general now research director at the Pioneer Institute.

The Legislature has to take control because, evidently, the T is incapable of doing so. Last year, the T had $1.3 billion of expenses and the taxpayers paid for two-thirds of it ... out of property taxes and the state gas tax, Sullivan said.

Click here for the "Your Tax Dollars at Work" database on MBTA pay

The number of MBTA employees taking home $100,000 or more rose to 985 in 2013 a 39 percent increase compared with 711 employees in 2012, according to payroll records obtained by the Herald yesterday.

Some T workers on the six-figure track include:

A foreman who worked as an electrician and collected more than $209,000 his base salary was nearly $95,000;

Two other electricians who cashed in for more than $180,000 in gross pay off of base salaries between $94,000 and nearly $97,500;

Two engineers, whose base pay was $88,170, and took home pay between $175,000 and $180,000.

Some of the hefty increases were attributed to overtime pay, said T spokesman Joe Pesaturo. He referenced specific projects to explain the electricians pay hike, saying those employees worked in conjunction with several capital projects, including the Longfellow Bridge, the new Assembly Square Orange Line Station, and the new Orient Heights Blue Line Station, which opened late last year.

Read the original here:
Number of MBTA workers earning six figures soars