Tyler Townsend, the chief spokesman for the Kern County Fire Department, made $174,266 in overtime in 2015, on top of his $95,962 salary. That’s the most earned by anyone in the entire county.
He was able to bring home $283,952 in 2015, according to the independent watchdog site Transparent California. He did it by following the rules of a system riddled with inequities and flaws that cost county taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars each year and pays some firefighters more than others for working fewer hours.
The system has worked out great for Townsend.
The 31-year-old captain has been able to achieve a host of personal and financial goals, including paying off his home on the Riverlakes golf course. “(I’m) completely debt free,” he told The Californian. Whether the system is working out great for taxpayers is another matter. The Californian has been reporting on large Kern County firefighter salaries and overtime since 2002.
The topic is coming up again as the county struggles to find ways to cut costs in order to keep government services afloat in the face of plunging oil prices and growing expenses.