Waste of the Day: NYC Plumber Made $360K
Topline: The highest-paid plumber in New York City earned $363,777 in fiscal year 2024, and 148 other plumbers earned more than $200,000 as the city’s overtime crisis continues to drain taxpayer funds.
Key facts: Mahendra Harcharan, the top-paid plumber, only made $112,293 from his base salary. He added on $234,783 of overtime and almost $17,000 of other pay to become the 92nd-highest paid public employee in the city last year.
Harcharan worked 3,731 hours, including 1,911 hours of overtime. That’s nearly 15 hours per weekday at a rate of $97.50 per hour. There were 39 other plumbers who worked at least 3,000 hours in 2024.
However, high pay for plumbers is nothing new for New York. Total pay was $75.6 million in 2022 but rose to $102.6 million in 2023. In 2024, total plumber pay was a record $106.9 million, including $38.1 million in overtime.
Since 2018, 28 plumbers have earned $300,000 or more in a single year. Dhimter Nushi earned a record $372,699 in 2023. In 2021, Robert Procida worked a record 2,249 hours of overtime.
New York City had a $35.7 billion payroll in 2024, including $3.1 billion in overtime. Police officers made up to $403,515, and firefighters made up to $372,126.
Private plumbers will also likely see increased revenue in New York under a new law that benefits licensed “master plumbers,” who typically have at least seven years of experience or meet other benchmarks. Gas ovens, dryers and some other appliances are now required to be installed by master plumbers, which critics argue will cost homeowners and landlords up to $500 more per installation.
Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.
Summary: In a city with a never-ending affordability crisis, it’s worth examining why plumbers are making almost as much as the President of the United States.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
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