The California State Controller’s Office is set to release its annual report on the highest paid officials in Riverside County and other jurisdictions statewide.
The report, titled “Government Compensation in California,” will provide an overview of how taxpayer funds were allocated in 2022 and will disclose the salaries of public employees.
For access to the data, visit www.publicpay.ca.gov.
Last year’s report revealed that the highest salary in 2021, amounting to $609,323, was earned by a sheriff’s communication supervisor whose identity was not disclosed on the website.
This figure includes both base pay and overtime compensation, with the latter accounting for over half of the individual’s total earnings, according to the State Controller’s Office.
The report also listed an assistant chief investigator in the District Attorney’s Office as the second-highest paid individual. This career law enforcement officer, whose identity was also undisclosed, received a total compensation of $535,084, nearly double the salary of District Attorney Mike Hestrin, which was equivalent to the sheriff’s pay of $294,520.
Within the realm of government, it is referred to as “compaction” when a subordinate earns more than their superior. In 2014, the Board of Supervisors increased executive salaries in an effort to rectify these disparities. A similar proposal to raise top officials’ salaries was rejected by the board last December.
A staff psychiatrist at the Department of Mental Health ranked third on the previous year’s list, receiving a compensation of $520,781.
The medical director of the Department of Mental Health followed as the fourth highest paid, earning $514,138, while another staff psychiatrist assigned to the jail system made $488,230 in 2021, according to the data.
None of the elected county officials appeared in the top 50 of the State Controller’s list for Riverside County. The Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Van Wagenen, ranked at 41st place with a total compensation of $354,808, according to the report.
Board members were further down the list in terms of annual compensation, earning less than many deputy public defenders, senior RUHS nurses, and even a laboratory researcher.
As the largest employer in Riverside County, the county government boasts over 27,000 positions. In 2021, a total of approximately $1.75 billion was paid in wages, a figure that is projected to slightly increase in 2022.
