On-staff psychiatrists were some of the highest paid Fairfax County employees last year, though their base salaries are generally lower than those of top officials in the county, documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show.
In terms of total compensation for 2006 — which includes leave payments, bonuses and, for some employees, overtime — a psychiatrist topped Fairfax County Executive Anthony Griffin, making $255,431 to Griffin’s $245,989. Because Fairfax County would not provide names along with compensation figures, the employee’s name is undisclosed.
The salary information covers the almost 13,000 Fairfax County employees outside the school system and Economic Development Authority.
The psychiatrists are employed by the county’s Community Services Board, which provides mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse services to the county, Fairfax City and Falls Church, according to Fairfax County spokeswoman Merni Fitzgerald.
“We need to hire psychiatrists to provide services here,” she said. “And, of course, the private sector is also trying to hire good qualified people with a high level of skill, so in order to attract people to public services … we need to offer compensation that is competitive.”
The next highest paid psychiatrist brought in $231,650 in 2006, and the senior supervisory psychiatrist made $191,115. By comparison, the base salary of the senior supervisory psychiatrist that year was $157,127. The county has refused to break down the difference between the base pay and total compensation.
