Harris County employee salaries, 2008-2011

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In 2011, Sunshine Review conducted a project examining public employee salaries in certain localities and other government entities across the U.S. This article contains the results of that project with public employee salary information from Harris County, Texas from 2008 to 2010. The information was gathered using publicly-available information under the Texas Public Information Act.

Salaries

Sunshine Review requested information about Harris County salaries from 2008 to 2011 through a Texas Public Information Act request. Sunshine Review was seeking data on the number of county employees earning over $150,000 in annual salaries. Harris County officials sent salary information for the years 2008 to 2010. Salaries remained largely unchanged over the three-year period, particularly for the highest paid positions.

2010 salaries

In 2010, there were 51 Harris County employees earning over $150,000 in salary and nine employees earning more than $200,000 annually. Employees in three county positions garnered salaries of $289,308, the highest earnings in the county. There were 505 employees earning more than $100,000.

• The Director of Infrastructure and County Engineer, Chief Medical Examiner and Director of Public Health all earned $289,308.
• The county Executive Director for Correction Health Services earned $251,556 annually.
• The Deputy Chief Medical Examiner earned $239,184.
• The Deputy Director of Public Health earned $232,236.
• The Director of Management Services and Chief Budget Officer earned $219,456.
• The Assistant Medical Examiner earned $206,004.
• The Deputy Director earned $203,700.
• 20 county judges eared $144,204.
• 14 assistant medical examiners earned between $170.004 and $199,020.
• The chief public defender earned $155,412.
• The county library director earned $133,812

2009 salaries

• The Director of Infrastructure and County Engineer, Chief Medical Examiner and Director of Public Health all earned $289,308.
• The county Executive Director for Correction Health Services earned $251,556 annually.
• The Deputy Chief Medical Examiner earned $239,184.
• The Deputy Director of Public Health earned $232,236.
• The Director of Management Services and Chief Budget Officer earned $219,456.
• The Assistant Medical Examiner earned $206,004.
• The Deputy Director earned $203,700.
• 20 county judges earned $144,204.
• The director of the county Flood Control District earned $177,252
• The Director of Construction Programs earned $177,252.

2008 salaries

• The Director of Infrastructure and County Engineer earned $289,308.
• The Chief Medical Examiner earned $289,308.
• The Director of Public Health earned $289,308.
• The Director of Management Services and Chief Budget Officer earned $219,456.
• The Deputy Chief Medical Examiner earned $239,184.
• The Deputy Executive Director earned $203,700
• 14 assistant medical examiners earned between $170.004 and $199,020.
• The Information Systems Officer earned $151,944
• The Chief Operating and Financial Officer earned $170,544.
• The County Director of Planning and Operations earned $170,436
• The director of the county Flood Control District earned $177,252
• 20 county judges earned $144,204.
• The chief public defender earned $155,412.

Benefits

All county employees are automatically enrolled in the base medical, DHMO dental and vision plans. The base plan has set co-payments for some services, but requires coinsurance for inpatient hospitalization, physician hospital services and outpatient surgery. The plan has a $250 per individual deductible with an individual maximum out-of-pocket coinsurance limit of $1,750 per calendar year. All full-time employees are automatically enrolled for basic life and long-term disability coverage. Employees can also opt into flexible spending accounts for health or dependent care.

The table below includes combined employee and county costs for benefits packages.

Name	Single	Single plus one	Family
PPO	$490	$937.39	$1,278.28
DHMO	$476.37	$910.76	$1,236.96
Base Plan + PPO	$	$1,276.75	$1,737.10
Base Plan + DHMO	$653.55	$1,250.12	$1,695.78

Phone use

Sunshine Review filed a Texas Public Information Act request with Harris County for information on county-owned cellular and mobile devices and the costs of maintaining them. Some employees receive a monthly stipend ranging from $30-$50 to pay for cell phone use.

Car use

Sunshine Review filed a Texas Public Information Act request with Harris County for information on county-owned automobiles and the costs of maintaining them, but no information was sent regarding those matters. However, according to county data, some employees receive a car allowance ranging from $118-$375 per month.

Salary records project

In 2011, Sunshine Review chose 152 local governments as the focus of research on public employee salaries. The editors of Sunshine Review selected eight states with relevant political contexts (listed alphabetically):

1. California
2. Florida
3. Illinois
4. Michigan
5. New Jersey
6. Pennsylvania
7. Texas
8. Wisconsin

Within these states, the editors of Sunshine Review focused on the most populous cities, counties and school districts, as well as the emergency services entities within these governments. The purpose of this selection method was to develop articles on governments affecting the most citizens.

The salary information garnered from these states were a combination of existing online resources and state Freedom of Information Act requests sent out to the governments.

A study published by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia said the city of Philadelphia faced challenges owing to the cost of public employee pensions. The report claimed the amount that Philadelphia paid to pension recipients limited the city’s ability to use its budget effectively.

The report said there were more individuals receiving pension benefits—33,907 claimants in 2006—than workers in the city—28,701. The authors recommended three steps towards addressing the problem of high costs in pensions: improved data collection, expanded transparency initiatives, and reductions to the city's overall budget.

Salary schedules can be published as ranges, not as specific compensation figures, and may leave out compensation received through health and retirement benefits, as well as benefits such as commuter allowances and cell phone reimbursements. This project aimed to close the gap and provide a more accurate picture of public employee salaries for the sake of public education and transparency.

See also

• Public employee salary

External links

• State Budget Solutions -- Texas

• Harris County Official Web Site