By DAILY SOUND STAFF REPORT -- MARCH 8, 2011
The Santa Barbara County Civil Ground Jury on Monday released the results of a survey of public employee salaries and total compensation.
The survey reports total compensation paid to senior executives and elected officials for 72 government entities throughout the county.
Among the findings:
The County Board of Supervisors earn $84,200 annually. The Santa Barbara City Council earns $39,729 annually, plus $7,116 for a car allowance. The mayor earns $49,661 and a $10,296 car allowance.
Santa Barbara Police Chief Cam Sanchez earns $207,860 in total compensation; the general manager of the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District earns $154,987.
Santa Barbara City Administrator Jim Armstrong earns $245,062 in total compensation.
The survey, which is based on 2009 data, is already widely available publicly.
The report includes information on elected officials, managers of county government and cities, along with special districts and school districts throughout the county.
The survey breaks down the compensation into salaries, bonuses, and the value of annual benefits.
“Although compensation paid to public officials in California is part of the public record, it is fair to say few citizens know what these amounts are,” said Kathryn McKee, jury foreperson.
Public employee salaries and benefits has been at the center of debate locally and nationally, as politicians argue over the cause of the continuing decline of the economy.
Joe Armendariz, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers’ Association, and a member of the Carpinteria City Council, said he was not surprised by the numbers.
“Most of the public employees I know are fine people, who do good, and important work for the particular jurisdiction that employs them,” Armendariz said. “Contrary to the hyperbole emanating from the defenders of the status quo, the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association is not interested in demonizing our public employees or calling into question their value or their worth.”
Armendariz said, however, that according to the state's Employment Development Department, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, public employees particularly at the federal, and state level, earn far more than their private sector equivalents.
“Once you factor in the value of their retirement, and health care benefits, (it is) substantially more, in some cases 500 percent more,” Armendariz said.
The survey can be found at http://www.sbcgj.org/2011/
http://www.thedailysound.com/News/030811-SANTA-BARBARA-GRAND-JURY
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