 From coast to coast, the highest-paid state workers collected total compensation of as much as $573,000 to $1 million last year, with overtime checks of up to $213,000 and unused vacation payouts that reached $609,000 as governors and lawmakers slashed funding for schools, public safety and other services. By compiling payroll records for 1.4 million employees of the 12 most-populous states, Bloomberg shows how California sets a pattern for governments nationally as out-of-control payroll costs burden states throughout the country.
Special Report
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The Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee lives in a 9,630-square-foot Tudor Revival mansion that was renovated for him, featuring a great hall, pool, elevator and tennis court.
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California Highway Patrol division chief Jeff Talbott retired last year as the best-paid officer in the 12 most-populous U.S. states, collecting $483,581 in salary, pension and other compensation.
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Today, California's highest-paid employees make far more than comparable workers elsewhere in almost all job and wage categories, from public safety to health care, base pay to overtime.
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Mohammad Safi, a graduate of a medical school in Afghanistan, began working as a psychiatrist at a California mental hospital in 2006, making $90,682 in his first six months. Last year, he took home $822,302, all of it paid by taxpayers.
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Britt Harris arrived at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas in 2006 from the world’s biggest hedge fund with a mandate to improve the pension’s performance. He also brought a Wall Street attitude about pay.
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When psychiatrist Gertrudis Agcaoili retired last year from a state mental hospital in Napa, California, she took with her a $608,821 check for unused leave banked in a career that spanned three decades.
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