Follow the Money in Florida: 34,873 Public Employees with $100,000+ Salaries Cost Taxpayers $5.5B Adam Andrzejewski
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2018/07/27/follow-the-money
Our team of auditors at OpenTheBooks.com found nearly 35,000 state and local government employees in Florida brought home six and seven-figure salaries, costing taxpayers $5.5 billion annually.
Since last year, the headcount of these high-compensated Florida government workers jumped by nearly 4,000 employees.
Here are a few examples of what we uncovered:
- 717 small-town, city, and village employees – including 26 local administrators out-earning every U.S. governor at $180,000.
- 2,484 State of Florida employees – including $276,000 for Commissioner of Education Pamela Stewart; $218,925 each for Department of Children and Families Medical Executive Directors Josefina Baluga and Steve Brasington.
- 3,195 teachers and school administrators – including chief academic officer Daniel Gohl ($196,001) in Broward County School District; minority achievement officer James Lawson ($181,120) in Orange County School District; and English and Journalism teacher James Johnson ($121,493) in St. Johns County School District.
- 13,305 college and university employees – including Vice President of Health Affairs David Guzick ($1.2 million) and Director of the Graduate Tax Program Martin McMahon ($780,392) at the University of Florida.
Not even resignations and retirements can stop some public employees from receiving huge payouts. Bruce Pelly, Palm Beach County’s airport director, pulled in $236,768 in 2017 on top of the $70,968 in annual retirement checks. Pelly worked for more than 20 years before “retiring” in 2010 to collect a $304,000 lump sum payout. Just 30 days later, he was rehired in the exact same position.
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