Because of an error by the Maryland Comptroller’s Office, an article in the Jan. 11 edition of The Examiner contained incorrect information about some Maryland state workers’ salaries. Corrected information from the Comptroller’s Office shows that the number of Maryland state workers who made $100,000 a year or more rose by 13 percent between the end of 2007 and the end of 2008, not 11 percent between fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010. The salaries mentioned in the story rose from the end of 2007 to the end of 2008, not between fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010.
More than 10,000 state workers are raking in annual salaries topping $100,000 this year in Maryland and Virginia, states that have cut services and laid off employees and once again are facing massive budget shortfalls.
In Maryland, 5,217 employees, most working for the state’s public colleges and universities, make $100,000 a year or more, according to public records requested by The Examiner. Virginia has 5,368 employees in the $100,000 club, though that figure excludes employees from some state agencies, including the judiciary.
University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean Dr. Albert Reece has the highest base salary in Maryland at $799,547 a year. Arthur Garson Jr., University of Virginia’s provost, has the highest base salary of Virginia’s state employees at $706,800.
The records show only base state salaries, and don’t include incentives like those given to some college coaches. For example, Gary Williams, the University of Maryland’s men’s basketball coach, makes $429,328 in base salary listed in the documents but reportedly earns about $2 million with incentives.
The number of Virginia’s state employees making $100,000 or more grew less than 1 percent from the previous year, while Maryland’s $100k club grew by more than 500 employees, or 11 percent, from fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2010.
Fiscal conservatives said that rate of growth shows Maryland has turned a blind eye to the financial problems of those not on the state payroll.
“It’s a smack in the face to the citizens who are worried about their jobs and struggling,” said Dee Hodges, chairwomanman of the Maryland Taxpayers Association. “Government will relentlessly grow, no matter what, and they don’t care.”
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s spokesman Shaun Adamec said the $100,000 measuring stick is “arbitrary” and said the governor has been aggressive in trying to make the state government more efficient.
Adamec said O’Malley, whose pay has held steady at $150,000 a year, has reduced the salary levels of 31 positions in his office from the previous administration. Adamec said the governor also eliminated take-home cars for his staff to save money.
Both states have about 100,000 employees on their payrolls, when colleges and universities are counted.
Higher education budgets in both states are being slashed, causing tuitions to rise and perks to disappear. But that hasn’t slowed growth in the salaries of high-paid administrators, some of whom saw their salaries increase almost $50,000.
University of Maryland, Baltimore President David Ramsay’s $589,000 annual salary is 9 percent higher this fiscal year than last year. And Clayton Mote Jr., the president of the state’s flagship university at College Park, saw his salary jump $32,700 to $464,600 in fiscal 2010. Chancellor William Kirwan received a $40,000 raise in one year, bringing his salary to $490,000.
Administrators at smaller schools also saw big jumps in pay. The salary of Baltimore City Community College President Carolane Williams increased by more than 11 percent in one year to $224,000.
None of the presidents could be reached for comment, but administrators around the country have defended higher pay as a way to attract the top executives needed to run colleges and universities successfully.
Critics said the pay increases are a “very bad symbolic gesture” by college administrators at a time when their schools are being pinched.
John Curtis, director of Research and Public Policy for the American Association of University Professors, said administrators need to remember that their institution’s goal is to “serve the public good rather than just enriching individuals.”
The salaries of top administrators at Virginia’s universities remained flat or even fell slightly between fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010.
