A version of this story first appeared in the Morning Update newsletter. Sign up here to receive the Morning Update and other BDN newsletters directly in your inbox.

In case you haven’t noticed, summer is peaking in Maine. 

We’re coming off a busy weekend featuring a waterfront concert doubleheader in Bangor, the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland and Wild Blueberry Weekend across the state — not to mention the kickoff of the Bangor State Fair, which runs through Saturday.

Weatherwise, after a few showers today, it will be another gorgeous week, with sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s.

These are the highest-paid city employees in Bangor

Bangor’s spending on city employees has steadily grown in recent years, and it’s expected to keep climbing under a new budget that funds more positions and cost of living raises. Credit: Paul Koenig / BDN Composite; Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN File

From reporter Annie Rupertus:

Much of a local government’s work revolves around budgeting, and a lot of Bangor’s budget goes toward paying city staff. At a time when we’re hearing a lot about affordability in Maine, and after Bangor’s City Council approved a budget with a bunch of new positions, I was curious about how much Bangor’s municipal workers actually get paid.

Call me nosy, but public employee pay is public information, and city staff are paid with taxpayer money (with some exceptions). I submitted a Freedom of Access Act request for a database of city workers with their regular and overtime earnings over the last three years.

There are many interesting tidbits in this data. For example, Bangor’s highest-paid employee in 2025 was former Finance Director David Little, who resigned less than halfway through the year and said a councilor’s treatment of him constituted an “unjust personal attack.” His $80,000 plus separation agreement meant he earned nearly $140,000 last year. After Little, the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 spots are all police officers.

Check out my story and the accompanying interactive charts if you want to know who else in our city government made a lot of money last year, explore our searchable list of the top 150 earners, or see our breakdown of which departments earn the most.

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