What city workers are paid: 44 are members of the $100,000 club

Looking for a good-paying job?

City Hall might not be a bad option to battling traffic on State Route 347 to commute to one in the Valley.

According to data provided to InMaricopa via a public-records request, Maricopa employs 44 people whose salaries are in six figures among its 504 on the city payroll list it supplied.

A 45^th will join the $100,000 club when new Police Chief Mark Goodman comes on board Jan. 23.

In all, nearly 9% of city staff earns at least $100,000 per year.

City Manager Rick Horst is the only city employee who cracks the $200,000 barrier. Six others earn at least $150,000 per year (Goodman will make it seven), while 14 more make $125,000 to $149,000.

Mayor Nancy Smith’s salary is $34,944 and city councilmembers are paid $21,320.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the 2020 median household income in Maricopa is $75,229, meaning half are above that figure and half below it. The national average is $65,712.

The city operates 23 departments and has 504 total employees – 318 full time and 186 part time or hourly.

The largest department by both number of employees and salary is the Police Department with 80 employees in operations, support and administration. The department’s total payroll is $6,736,466 when the salary of Goodman, who begins his new position Jan. 23, is included.

The Fire Department is a close second with 69 employees and a payroll of $5,800,620.

Parks & Recreation, including operations and maintenance, is the only other department with a payroll more than $1 million, paying its 31 full-time employees $1,725,163 this year. It also has 154 part-time and hourly employees, by far the most of any department. Those include positions such as lifeguards, water-safety instructors, maintenance workers and recreation aides and coordinators.

Several smaller departments have large payrolls: City Manager Rick Horst’s six-person department has a payroll of $821,229 and the four-person City Clerk’s office earns a combined $346,521. The city’s four public information officers in the Government Relations & Communications office earn a total of $324,578, while the 10-person Information Technology department brings in just less than $800,000.

One of the smallest payrolls belongs to the mayor and city council. Those seven earn a total of just $162,864 for the year – about $35,000 for Mayor Nancy Smith and $21,320 for each council member – the smallest average salary for any city department.

However, the smallest department is the one-person Neighborhood Services department, with a payroll of $42,723.

Maricopa’s 10 highest-paid employees

• $221,999 — City Manager Rick Horst
• $182,401 — Police Chief Mark Goodman
• $167,887 — Assistant City Manager Jennifer Brown
• $162,738 — Deputy City Manager Matthew Kozlowski
• $158,240 — Deputy City Manager Ben Bitter
• $154,302 — City Clerk Vanessa Bueras
• $153,000 — Court Administrator Johnny Tse
• $152,000 — Public Works Director Keith Brown
• $149,500 — Fire Chief Brad Pitassi
• $147,682 — Parks and Recreation Director Nathan Ullyot

Maricopa by departments

(Total payroll with number of salaried full-time employees)

• $6,736,466 – Police Administration/Operations, 80.
• $5,800,620 – Fire Administration/Operations, 69.
• $1,725,163 – Parks & Recreation/Park Maintenance, 31.
• $982,543 – Office of Emergency Management, 13.
• $923,432 – Public Works/Services, 11..
• $913,807 – Financial Services, 12.
• $821,229 – City Manager, 6.
• $801,478 – Development Services/Administration, 11.
• $799,751 – Information Technology, 10.
• $759,944 – Human Resources, 11.
• $626,100 – Streets, 13.
• $607,646 – Building Safety/Services, 8.
• $418,902 – City Magistrate, 7.
• $380,617 – Facilities, 7.
• $349,349 – Library, 8.
• $346,521 – City Clerk, 4.
• $324,578 – Government Relations/Communications, 4.
• $277,531 – Fleet & Transit Management, 4.
• $262,433 — Economic development and legislative affairs, 3.
• $162,864 – Mayor and City Council – 7.
• $161,723 – Permit Center, 3.
• $123,427 – Transportation, 3.
• $42,723 – Neighborhood Services, 1.

City employees’ pay

Source: City of Maricopa