Should City and County Officials Earn More Than Minnesota's Governor?

(James Warden wrote the original version of this post.)

Stillwater officials are not among the dozens of local government employees in Minnesota who make more money than Gov. Mark Dayton, according to an Associated Press analysis released Sunday.

In Stillwater, not even the highest-paid city officials earn more than the governor’s $120,303 annual salary:

City Administrator/Treasurer Larry D. Hansen: $110,484 per year.

Police Chief John Gannaway: $100,025 per year.

Public Works Director/City Engineer Shawn Sanders: $99,331 per year.

State law requires cities and counties to list the salaries of the three highest-paid officials. To put together its analysis, the Associated Press examined the salary notices of 126 cities and counties with more than 15,000 residents.

According to the Associated Press figures, Stillwater's highest salary was 62nd among the top-paid officials in 69 Minnesota cities. Washington County ranked eighth among counties, with a top salary of $147,609 (county administrator). City-administrator salaries in Oakdale ($157,507) and Woodbury ranked third and tenth, respectively, among city officials statewide. 

The analysis found that at least 145 city and county employees are paid better than the governor, although there are almost certainly more since governments only have to list the top three salaries.

The Associated Press also concluded that city and county government salaries have grown rapidly since the state removed a cap that prevented most local government employees from making more than the governor.

The Hennepin County medical examiner’s $231,732 salary was the highest on the list. For cities, the Rochester city administrator’s $165,780 pay was top.

Critics say the salaries are a good example of why Minnesota should have kept the cap, but cities and counties say the pay is necessary to attract and retain the best people.

The Pioneer Press has published a searchable database of the Associated Press data.

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