Fitchburg detective top earner – $235,886 total pay [+scan entire payroll]

A Fitchburg police detective was the top earner in city government last year, clocking in with $235,886 gross pay working two jobs, an analysis of the annual payroll reveals.

Police Detective Tabitha Pepple boosted her $86,299 base pay working time-and-a-half mostly to approve roughly 700 license to carry applications, Mayor Samantha Squailia said.

“I don’t think she sleeps. She’s the sole detective who reviewed 700 license to carry applications and renewals,” the mayor said. “It’s less than what we’d have to pay another employee to do.”

All those applications and renewals ultimately go through the chief for final approval, the mayor added.

City Council President Anthony Zarrella said high pay citywide is “something we monitor,” adding “all departments are trying to keep it in check.”

Both the mayor and council president said the cost of health insurance is also hitting the budget hard, with an unexpected $4.5 million hike in the past two years coming as a surprise. That is also proving to be a strain on municipal and state budgets — let alone household finances — everywhere.

The city payroll analysis shows that three employees, including Pepple, pulled down a total of $200,000-plus last year. Another 312 city workers brought home $100,000 or more. That tally includes Mayor Squailia paid a flat $199,999.88 with no overtime, payroll records state.

Out of the 1,911 city workers paid in 2025, the top earners included:

Police chief

The chief, Steven Giannini, earned $235,886, making him the second-highest paid in the city. He was hired for the job a year ago last month. He is a veteran of the local police force who began his career in law enforcement as a dispatcher in Leominster.

School superintendent

Head of schools Jonathan Thompson was paid $224,410 last year. He has been with the city school system for more than a decade and holds multiple degrees from Framingham State University and has close ties to Fitchburg State University.

Police captains

Capt. Christopher Garcia and fellow Capt. Jeffrey Howe earned $197,375 and $193,165, respectively.

Highest-paid teacher

For those listed as a teacher, the top-paid educator in that category was Teresa Montemurro, who earned $124,584, records show.

As for the overall payroll, the mayor said the city’s tight finances have not allowed her to bump up pay for COLA, a cost-of-living wage increase the U.S. Social Security Administration has set at 2.8% for 2026. Prior contractual obligations, including step increases, are being honored, she added.

Squailia explained that she’s worked to not fill open positions to help buffer the rise in health care costs with both her and the council president saying it’s too early to say if any layoffs are being considered in the new budget that is still taking shape.

“Our budget is not good,” Zarrella said. “The problem is not salary it’s post-COVID” health care costs, and he added that bill is “not expected to go down.”

Health care costs per capita in Massachusetts come in at $13,319, in one national estimate, making it in the Top 4 after New York, Alaska and Washington, D.C.

It’s also big news at the State House where health plan overseers under pressure to tame spiraling health care costs delayed a vote on controversial benefit changes — particularly eliminating coverage for GLP-1 drugs for weight loss — in response to pushback from lawmakers and state workers, the State House NewsService reports.

As it seeks to rescue the commission this year with an emergency appropriation, the administration of Gov. Maura Healey also tasked the Group Insurance Commission with slashing $120 million in fiscal 2027, which begins on July 1, the news service added.

Yet, all the costs of state and local payrolls and health insurance ultimately bounce back to taxpayers.

The complete 2025 payroll for the City of Fitchburg, obtained through the Massachusetts Public Records law and confirmed as accurate by City Hall, is posted at the Sentinel and Enterprise website.

To search this database, click the magnifying glass icon (at right) and enter names and more. Use the scroll bar at the bottom to move the data over to the right to sort by highest to lowest. Send any tips or questions to [email protected] and for statewide payroll data, go to the “Your Tax Dollars at Work” homepage.