How much do O.C.'s public city workers earn? More than $145,000 on average

SANTA ANA – Orange County’s public city employees earned $144,817 on average last year, amounting to a 3 percent raise from the year prior, according to data released Tuesday by an open-records advocacy group.

The records, which include public data for all but two of the county’s 34 cities, revealed that much of that pay often comes from total compensation packages, not base pay, with 41 percent of average total annual pay coming from benefits, overtime and other payments.

Tuesday’s report was released by the conservative-leaning group Transparent California.

At $453,092, Santa Ana City Manager David Cavazos’ compensation package was the highest of any city worker in the county and the sixth-highest among city managers in the state, according to the data. His $341,710 base salary is top among all city managers in the state.

The average total pay for a city manager in Orange County was $279,000 last year.

Though overtime pay dropped 5 percent countywide from 2014, the report notes several city employees who earned more than double their base salary by working large amounts of overtime in 2015.

Robert Fellner, Transparent California’s research director, said such high overtime was dangerous for public safety workers.

Among all city employees, Costa Mesa workers had the highest average salary, earning $165,388 in total compensation. Newport Beach employees were second with $165,025 on average, followed by Huntington Beach workers, who earned $162,713 on average. - Read More at the OCRegister

How much do O.C.'s public city workers earn? More than $145,000 on average

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