El Dorado County's 100 top paid employees

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - Auditor-Controller Joe Harn has updated the list of the County’s 100 highest compensated employees for the calendar year 2019.

“Posting the list to the County’s website is part of the ongoing effort to increase transparency in our County government,” Harn said. “The best government transparency involves placing all financial information online in a readily understandable manner. Government transparency allows taxpayers to see how our county is spending tax money, and gives El Dorado County citizens the ability to hold us accountable. The internet is a great place to enhance transparency.”

The two highest compensated employees were mental health professionals: the county’s mental health director and a psychiatrist II.

"The list highlights some problems with the county’s compensation policies," stated Harn in a release. "For instance, there is virtually no difference in the total compensation of a number of department heads and their subordinates."

The top 25 compensated employees are listed below (title, regular pay and total salary and benefits, including overtime):

1 HHSA ‐ Mental Health MENTAL HEALTH MEDICAL DIRECTOR $301,967 - $372,597
2 HHSA ‐ Mental Health PSYCHIATRIST II $299,499 - $337,148
3 Sheriff's Office SHERIFF/CORONER/PUBLIC ADMIN $233,605 - $302,053
4 Sheriff's Office UNDERSHERIFF $233,168 - $299,067
5 Sheriff's Office SHERIFF'S CAPTAIN $216,143 - $292,816
6 CAO CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER $227,677 - $284,017
7 District Attorney DISTRICT ATTORNEY $221,403 - $277,876
8 District Attorney CHIEF INVESTIGATOR (D.A.) $203,977 - $269,475
9 Sheriff's Office SHERIFF'S CAPTAIN $201,383 - $263,420
10 Sheriff's Office SHERIFF'S CAPTAIN $196,161 - $263,199
11 County Counsel COUNTY COUNSEL $201,813 - $252,890
12 Sheriff's Office DEPUTY SHERIFF II $123,677 - $246,395
13 CAO ASST CHIEF ADMIN OFFICER $189,717 - $240,600
14 Sheriff's Office SHERIFF'S SERGEANT $137,070 - $239,787
15 HHSA ‐ Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER $206,724 - $238,097
16 Treasurer/Tax Collector TREASURER/TAX COLLECTOR $159,018 -$237,150
17 Sheriff's Office SHERIFF'S LIEUTENANT $165,797 - $231,673
18 Public Defender PUBLIC DEFENDER $200,154 - $229,094
19 HHSA ‐ Social Services ASST DIR OF HUMAN SERVICES $165,021 - $228,250
20 Probation CHIEF PROBATION OFFICER $166,150 - $227,393
21 CAO DEPUTY CHIEF ADMIN OFFICER $173,934 - $226,368
22 HHSA ‐ Administration DIRECTOR, HHSA $181,621 - $225,508
23 Sheriff's Office SHERIFF'S SERGEANT $139,534 - $224,807
24 Sheriff's Office DEPUTY SHERIFF II $114,398 - $224,342
25 Sheriff's Office SHERIFF'S SERGEANT $128,645 - $224,035

For the rest of the top 100, visit HERE.

"The cost of each employee’s CalPERS benefit is included on the list, but the reported retirement cost should be reviewed with some skepticism," said Harn. "CalPERS has intentionally understated the actual cost of its retirement programs statewide. Undoubtedly, higher costs for the county’s retirement program and retirees’ health stipend will need to be paid in the future.