EYE ON ULSTER

Its Your Money

Wages and salaries have become a hot topic of late with a focus on everything from minimum wage hourly rates to executive compensation. Even the Governor has joined the fray with his recently proposed regulations that would limit the amount of state money that goes toward the salaries of some not for profits and for profit agencies. Right here in our own Hudson Valley we have seen attention paid to wages for the rank and file and salaries for the executives at the areas premiere health care providers. We literally have two ends of the wage spectrum capturing interest. While one side of the salary scale is battling simply to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour, the other side enjoys sizable six figure incomes during questionable financial times. There seems to be a huge disconnect between the $15,000.00 per year minimum wage earner and the healthy six figure compensation that has been reported by local hospitals. We point out this disparity not to judge, but rather as a contextual frame of reference as we respond to the numerous inquiries that were made to my office as to who were the top earners in ULSTER COUNTY government. Taxpayers may find it interesting to discover that the top ten (10) earners in 2011 were all medical doctors. The first nine (9) were psychiatrists assigned to the Countys Mental Health Department and the tenth top earner headed up both Mental Health and the Health Department. The eleventh and twelfth top earners were also Mental Health psychiatrists. The number thirteen (13) and fourteen (14) spots belong to elected officials holding the offices of the County Executive and the District Attorney respectively. Concluding the top twenty (20) list are three members of the Executives staff (15, 16 and 18), the Budget Director, the Planning Commissioner and the Commissioner of Finance. In the spirit of full disclosure my compensation and the compensation of the other two remaining elected officials, the Sheriff and the County Clerk appear as thirty, thirty-one and thirty-two on the list of earners, each making a little over $101,000.00.

Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster

Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee)

Adamczak, Julita Gottlieb, Howard Standefer Jr, James Markarian, Marylinn Newsome, Donna Karbakhsh, Roya Abrams, Beth Goldman, Ron Kalus, Oren Hasbrouck, Lamar

NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR

$217,660 $216,736 $211,697 $192,604 $187,751 $167,708 $161,569 $150,798 $150,741 $150,690

2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011

Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster Ulster

Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee) Ulster (General Employee)

Kritzler, Zoe Purugganan, Sylvia Hein, Michael Carnright, Holley Sudlow, Robert Beckman, Marshall Smith, Arthur Reiter, Adele Doyle, Dennis Hewitt, Paul

NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR NDR

$149,381 $133,853 $133,159 $130,991 $122,784 $120,784 $120,784 $114,784 $112,702 $110,319

2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011

The complete 2011 list, along with payrolls of many other public employees, courtesy of SEE THROUGH NY, The Empire Center for New York State Policy can be viewed on their website which can be found at www.seethroughny.net.