The potentially high pay of five police captains in Methuen has Gov. Charlie Baker calling the numbers unprecedented and state lawmakers seeking a fix that is likely to include stricter fiscal oversight.

The Eagle-Tribune reported earlier this month that five police captains' pay, through a new contract, is among the reasons Methuen is seeing budget problems.

The newspaper, citing the city auditor, said one captain who earns $157,052 with benefits would see a 180 percent raise, to $440,735.

"Look, law enforcement has no bigger supporter than me, ok?" Baker told reporters on Tuesday. "I think those jobs are really tough, I deal all the time with people who end up on the wrong end of some really horrible incidents and circumstances as a result of the fact that somebody in their family chose to get into that line of work."

But Baker, who takes a salary of $151,800, said the numbers for the Methuen police captains were unprecedented.

"There's simply no precedent for the numbers associated with what the folks in Methuen are being paid," Baker said. "And I really think it needs to be reconsidered."

Baker said his administration is working with state lawmakers to file legislation to deal with Methuen's expected deficit.

"But it's going to come with some pretty heavy oversight requirements," Baker said. "And if the state doesn't see a lot of progress in the short term on this, those oversight requirements will get more aggressive. I don't know how anybody could vote for a proposal that would put those kinds of numbers on the table."

Former Mayor Stephan Zanni negotiated the contract and it was approved last year, before current Mayor James Jajuga took office.

Zanni told the Eagle-Tribune that he wasn't aware the contracts would lead to the massive jump in pay. "Why wasn't I told?" he said to the newspaper.