(The Center Square) – The city of Milwaukee had 17 employees receive more than $200,000 in compensation in 2014, and the city’s mayor, police and fire chiefs were not among them.
The top two officials on the list were Chief Investment Officer David Silber and Employee Retirement System Director Bernard Allen, who received $289,321 and $275,251 in gross pay, respectively, according to data from Open The Books from a database on the city of Milwaukee’s website.
Open the Books collects data from municipalities and state government across the United States for comparison and transparency.
The pair of Milwaukee retirement fund officials made $137.7 and $131.8 per hour while a third member of the state retirement system staff, Deputy Chief Investment Officer Erich Sauer, made $222,493 in compensation on $105.9 per hour, according to the data.
The median household income in Milwaukee was $51,188 in 2023, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Census. That median income only includes salary while the Milwaukee gross pay data includes an employee’s salary along with other items such as overtime, comp time, vacation and sick time payouts.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, for example, is listed as making nearly $161,000 in total compensation. He made approximately $147,000 in base salary in a role that paid the same amount between 2008 and when the mayor’s salary was raised 15% to more than $169,000 in base pay after last year’s April 2 election along with other city officials.
The 15% increase applied to the mayor, city council members and top city workers like Milwaukee’s police and fire chiefs.
Twelve of the 17 individuals receiving gross pay of $200,000 or more from Milwaukee worked for the city’s police or fire departments with many of those earning overtime and premium overtime pay of anywhere from $75,000 up to $125,000 for the year.
Milwaukee had 261 employees make $150,000 or more in gross pay during 2024, the data showed.
