Website lists updated Nevada public employee pay data
CARSON CITY - Want to find out who is the best-paid public employee in Nevada? Or the names of the thousands of employees who make more than Gov. Brian Sandoval?
The Nevada Policy Research Institute has updated its transparentNevada.com website with more current salaries for thousands of state and local government employees in Nevada. The site is searchable by name.
The conservative watchdog organization based in Las Vegas has added 122 contracts negotiated between local governments, including schools, and their public employee unions. The site also contains school performance data from the Clark County School District and contracts approved by Sandoval and members of the state Board of Examiners.
"TransparentNevada provides an important public service by allowing citizens, lawmakers and media members easy access to public documents," said Andy Matthews, the institute's president. "These updates represent our efforts to provide the public with complete information - even for lesser known jurisdictions."
Matthews said that none of the state's school districts provided breakdowns on the costs of salary, overtime and other pay as required by law, so the information provided is not as complete as it should be.
"Even though these are smaller jurisdictions, some of these government employees make exorbitant salaries," he said. "For instance, the executive director of the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County took home over $269,000 in 2011."
For the record, the highest-paid public employee is Dr. William Zamboni, a plastic surgeon at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. He earned $1.3 million in pay and benefits in 2011.
Three other doctors are on the top 10 salary list.
As far as general government, Henderson City Manager Mary Delk was the highest paid in 2011 but later was terminated. She earned pay and benefits of $962,000 in 2011, but that salary included a separation settlement.
Sandoval? He earned a paltry $145,000 in 2011. That doesn't even put him among the top 1,000 public employee wage earners.
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
