Boston Herald posts State Employee Payroll

Under the title "Your tax dollars at work: 2007 State Employee Payroll" the online version of the Boston Herald has published a 5312 page (20 names per page) chart of "the state payroll as of April 2007".

It lists "projected salaries and earned income from last year" as "provided to the Herald by the state's Comptroller's Office." The heading says, "E-mail any inquiries to joed@bostonherald.com and check for updates in the City Desk Wired blog."

The listing provides very interesting information and comparisons. It can be searched by last name, and/ or department and can be sorted by: Last Name, First Name, Standard Hours, Annual Rate and 2006 Earnings. I noted that the 20 top paid employees in the State are all at UMass, including the head basketball coach (at number 3).

Amongst the department that can be viewed are the Department of Social Services, Department of Education, Department of Mental Health, Department of Retardation, Attorney General's Office, District Attorneys' offices, Department of Correction, specific courts and the Committee for Public Counsel Services.

There is one employee at DSS who makes more than the commissioner and there are social workers who nearly double their base pay (I guess) by working the hotline. The list of job titles within each department are also varied and interesting.

Here's the link for the top page of the list: http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/payroll