The California State Controller’s Office Tuesday is slated to release its annual report on the highest paid officials in Riverside County and other jurisdictions throughout the state.
The “Government Compensation in California” report will show how taxpayer funds were spent in 2022, and who was receiving what on the public payroll.
The data will be available at www.publicpay.ca.gov.
Last year’s report indicated that the largest composite salary in 2021 — $609,323 — went to a sheriff’s communication supervisor, who was not named on the web portal.
The amount included base pay and overtime compensation — the latter accounting for more than half of the total paid to the individual, according to the controller’s office.
The report listed an assistant chief investigator in the District Attorney’s Office as the second-highest paid. The career law enforcement officer, also not identified, received an aggregate compensation of $535,084, almost double what District Attorney Mike Hestrin received, which equaled the sheriff’s pay of $294,520.
In government speak, when a subordinate makes more than the superior, it’s called “compaction.” The Board of Supervisors in 2014 hiked executive salaries in an attempt to fix disparities. A similar attempt to raise top officials’ salaries was made last December, but the board rejected it.
A staff psychiatrist at the Department of Mental Health was No. 3 on last year’s list, taking home $520,781
The medical director of the Department of Mental Health was fourth on the list, at $514,138, followed by another staff psychiatrist — this one assigned to the jail system — earning $488,230 in 2021, according to figures.
Not one elected county official appeared in the top 50 of the controller’s list for Riverside County. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen was at No. 41, with total compensation of $354,808, according to the report.
Board members were way down the list for annual compensation packages, making less than many deputy public defenders, senior RUHS nurses, even a laboratory researcher, figures showed.
County government is the single largest employer in Riverside County, with just over 27,000 positions. Roughly $1.75 billion in total wages were paid in 2021. That figure will be slightly higher for 2022.