As part of Governor LePage's inititave to give the public easy access to public information on state spending, Open Checkbook was created, a website that let's you search all the spending by the State of Maine and where it goes.

With the recent news of a bill by LePage to more than double the Governor's salary next term, we got to wondering what the salaries of all Maine State employees are and who gets the largest paycheck.

After spending a good deal of time on Open Checkbook and drilling down deep, we found that Maine spent $775 million on payroll in 2016 on over 15,000 employees. $566 million was paid in regular wages, $24 million in overtime and $2.5 million in stipends with the rest going to employee benefits like retirement and health insurance.

The Department of Health and Human Services payroll was the largest with $151 million for 3192 employees.

Who made the most? Doctors. That seems to make sense. The top 10 highest paid people in the state payroll collectively made just shy of $1.5 million with the top salary going to the Chief Medical Examiner who made $230,656 (and 44 cents) in 2016.

Fun Fact: 7 out of 10 of the top earners on the State of Maine payroll are women.

Here's the list. (Turn your phone sideways if you can't see all of it)

 

NAMEYEARLY SALARYTITLEORGANIZATION
1. Mark Flomenbaum$230,656.44Chief Medical ExaminerAttorney General
2. Michelle Gardner$222,493.20Clinical DirectorDept Of Health&Human Svcs: DDPC
3. Deborah Ryan$217,446.10Hospital PsychiatristDept Of Health&Human Svcs: DDPC
4. Rachel Harrow$215,942.26Hospital PsychiatristDept Of Health&Human Svcs: DDPC
5. Cynthia Cushman$193,996.80Hospital PsychiatristDept Of Health&Human Svcs: DDPC
6. Clare Bryce$176,243.20Dep Chief Medical ExaminerAttorney General
7. George Davis$175,525.20Physician IIIDept Of Health&Human Svcs: RPC
8. Siiri Bennett$161,952.40Public Service Coordinator IIIDept Of Health&Human Svcs: DHHS
9. Leigh Saufley$150,130.80Supreme Court Chief JusticeJudicial Department
10. Hugh Corbett$144,942.00Executive DirectorMaine Military Authority

Mental health employees take most of the top 10. DDPC stands for the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center in Bangor and RPC is the Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta. 5 of the 10 highest paid workers are at these facilities.

The State Epidemiologist at the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention is 8th, the Maine Supreme Court Chief Justice is 9th and the executive director of the Maine Military Authority, a Maine-owned business in Limestone that refurbishes large vehicles, is 10th. Governor LePage is currently seeking a $7 million buyout for the business.

You can search all the public expense records yourself if you're curious about what that guy you know that works for the State makes and the link below.

 

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