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News Blog

Local Government Salary List Updated

Curious how much taxpayer money your local bureaucrat is pulling in? The answer is only a few clicks away.

State Controller John Chiang has updated the online list of public-employee salaries and benefits in 2010, including approved salary ranges for each position, actual wages paid, pension formulas and health perks.

Not surprisingly, Monterey County's top earners in 2010 were doctors and executives at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital and Natividad Medical Center, topped by SVMH president/CEO wages of $699,457.

One peculiar exception: the executive director of the Workforce Investment Board. The salary range for that position is listed as $88,275-$120,500, yet the wages paid in 2010 were $307,387. The $224,477 payout to departing WIB director Joseph Werner was flagged by a state Employment Development Department audit last year. (Above is a photo of the county's Economic Development Department, which replaced the WIB.)

City manager pay tended to reflect population size, ranging from $150,425 (Carmel-by-the-Sea, pop. 4,053) to $226,864 (Salinas, pop. 153,948). Marina was an exception, paying its boss $265,472 in a city of 19,445.

Notable numbers for special districts: Employees of the Monterey Peninsula Water Pollution Control Agency received 3-percent-at-60 pension benefits, closer to the formula generally reserved for public-safety employees than the 2-percent-at-55 typically offered to non-safety staff.

The Monterey Regional Park District also had a higher-than-usual pension —2.7 percent at 55—and one of the county’s flushest general manager salaries: $283,384, with 64 employees.

The head of Marina Coast Water District, with 46 employees, made $264,453 in 2010; his equivalent at Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, with 41 employees, made $159,361. Salaries at the county Water Resources Agency were not reported.

Among the lowest salaries for the boss of a major local agency: $97,754, for the executive director of the 123-employee Community Human Services Project.

The website lists salaries by city and special district.

Top-three earners in select local cities:

Salinas City Manager: $226,864
Salinas Police Commander: $223,096
Salinas Police Chief: $219,923

Monterey City Manager: $285,603
Monterey Police Chief: $211,749
Monterey Assistant City Manager: $205,810

Seaside Fire Chief: $195,307
Seaside City Manager: $191,362
Seaside Assistant City Manager: $162,317

Marina City Manager: $265,472
Marina Development Services Director: $191,616
Marina Finance Director: $182,090

Pacific Grove City Manager: $180,327
Pacific Grove Police Corporal: $168,701
Pacific Grove Police Sergeant: $150,167

Carmel-by-the-Sea City Administrator: $150,425
Carmel-by-the-Sea Fire Captain: $148,651
Carmel-by-the-Sea Fire Captain: $139,905

Soledad City Manager: $182,311
Soledad Police Sergeant: $137,536
Soledad Police Lieutenant: $136,747

Executive salaries for special districts:

Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital President/CEO $699,457
Monterey Peninsula Waste Management District General Manager: $204,119
Monterey-Salinas Transit General Manager: $201,002
Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency General Manager: $206,350 with 3% at 60 retirement benefits
Monterey Regional Waste Management District General Manager: $204,119
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District General Manager: $159,361
Monterey County Water Resources Agency: NOT LISTED
Monterey Regional Park District General Manager: $283,384, with 2.7@55 retirement benefits
Marina Coast Water District General Manager: $264,453
Community Human Services Project Executive Director: $97,754
Transportation Agency for Monterey County Executive Director: $180,347
Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments Executive Director: $160,835