Des Moines Register
11-19-06
Coaches, doctors fill top of Iowa's payroll
Fewer state employees earn more than the governor and other key Statehouse
officials, according to new data.
BY JONATHAN ROOS AND ERIN JORDAN
REGISTER STAFF WRITERS
Thanks to a pay raise and a promotion, Chet Culver is moving up the salary
ranks of state employees.
Culver's salary as secretary of state jumped last year to $102,626 from $87,506.
In winning the governor's race two weeks ago, his salary next year as the state's
chief executive will climb to $130,000.
A newly published salary list for more than 76,000 state workers shows that a
group of seven Statehouse officials, including Culver and current Gov. Tom
Vilsack, gained ground on other employees last budget year. For example, the
number of state workers earning more than the governor dropped from about
1,900 in fiscal 2005 to less than 1,200 in fiscal 2006.
The elected officials gained ground as a result of double-digit salary increases
that took effect July 1, 2005. The Legislature and Vilsack approved a 35 percent
raise for the lieutenant governor, a 21 percent raise for the governor and 17
percent raises for the attorney general, secretary of state, secret of agriculture,
state auditor and state treasurer.
The salary bill, described by supporters as an effort to make up for years of
stagnant salaries while the state struggled with budget problems, contained a
roughly 17 percent raise for legislators that will take effect Jan. 1. The six top
House and Senate leaders will see their base salaries increase to $37,500 from
$32,974. They are also paid $86 a day for work outside the legislative session.
A Des Moines Sunday Register analysis of the new State Salary Book shows
that Vilsack, Culver and the other five Statehouse officials are among about
2,500 state employees whose annual pay exceeds $100,000.
Sixteen states pay their governors a bigger salary than Iowa's $130,000, led by
New York at $179,000, according to a survey by the Council of State
Governments. Among Iowa's neighbors, only Illinois and Wisconsin pay more.
While employees with six-digit salaries represent just 3 percent of the state
government work force, their salaries account for 14 percent of the total payroll.
At the low end of the salary list are the roughly 22,000 workers with paychecks
that totaled less than $10,000. This group of part-time or temporary job holders
included students employed at the three state universities.
Again perched at the top of the list are big-name coaches at the University of
Iowa and Iowa State University.
According to the salary book, Hawkeye football coach Kirk Ferentz received
about $3.2 million in total compensation in fiscal 2006 - including his base salary,
bonuses and other income.
Ferentz was followed by Cyclones football coach Dan McCarney, who
received just over $1 million; Hawkeye basketball coach Steve Alford, who
received $963,672; and former Cyclones basketball coach Wayne Morgan, who
received $750,000.
The four men's coaches, ISU women's basketball coach Bill Fennelly, former
U of I athletic director Bob Bowlsby and leading medical professionals at the U of
I fill the top 20 salary spots.
Two of the 20 highest-paid state employees are women: Donna Katen-Bahensky,
director of University Hospitals, with a salary last budget year of $446,585; and
Laurie Fajardo, head of radiology, with a salary of $422,560.
University officials say medical professors and other faculty members with sixfigure salaries earn a premium because of their skills and experience. In return,
their research brings in money from the federal government and other sources.
"While faculty in the Carver College of Medicine rank high among state
employees, they rank quite a bit below their peers in academic medical centers"
nationally, said Steve Maravetz, an associate dean. "Since we compete with
medical schools across the country for top-flight faculty, it is extremely important
that we offer competitive salaries."
While there was little change in total employment, pay raises resulted in a $110
million increase in the state payroll last fiscal year, reaching $2.6 billion,
according to the salary book.
Taxpayers pick up much of the tab, but health care fees and research grants
cover most of the salary cost at University Hospitals in Iowa City. Student fees
and ticket revenue help support athletic programs.
State government is Iowa's largest employer.
About 1,500 people were hired for executive branch positions last year, not
counting hiring done by the state universities. The Iowa Department of
Administrative Services receives 3,000 applications a month on average.
The average base salary among executive branch workers (excluding university
employees) reached $23.37 an hour - or about $48,600 a year.
Administrators in charge of the public universities and big state agencies such as
human services and corrections command much bigger salaries.
Then-U of I President David Skorton was paid $350,769 last fiscal year. Skorton
left in June to become president of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy received $308,000. The
salary of the University of Northern Iowa's new president, Benjamin Allen, is
$275,000.
Outside the universities, state Medical Examiner Julia Goodin was paid
$230,645, and Edward Stanek II, chief executive officer of the Iowa Lottery,
received $221,133 last budget year. Stanek's salary is paid from lottery revenue.
Among state department directors, economic development chief Mary Lawyer
topped the list with a salary of $138,216. Lawyer left the state job last summer to
lead Des Moines' Downtown Community Alliance.
The highest-paid person in the governor's office is not Vilsack. His chief of staff,
Cynthia Eisenhauer, was paid $145,531.
And in the secretary of state's office it was deputy Charles Krogmeier - not Culver
- who was paid the most, at $114,968.
Reporter Jonathan Roos can be reached at (515) 284-8443 or jroos@dmreg.com