Nearly
8,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees—including more than 4,800 in the
past year—have been added to New York’s state government payroll since the fall
of 2006, according to data from the state comptroller’s office.
As
of the first pay period in October, the state payroll totaled 239,830 FTE
employees.That is the highest
total for any comparable period since 1991, the first year of Mario Cuomo’s
third term as governor. Under former Governor George Pataki, the third-quarter
payroll reached 231,853 FTEs in October 2006.
Based
on weighted average biweekly salaries, the two-year increase of 7,979 FTE state
employees represents $700 million a year in added compensation costs, including
benefits and payroll taxes.Total
salary, benefits and payroll taxes for state workers have increased $2.2
billion, or 12 percent, in the last two years.*
Much
of the increase resulted from expanded programs included in the first budget
proposed by former Governor Eliot Spitzer, who took office in January
2007.Governor David Paterson, who
succeeded Spitzer in mid-March of this year, announced hiring freezes in April
and again in July.
Including
overtime and regional differentials, the average state worker’s salary is
$59,717, up 8 percent since 2006. The total cost per employee, including
benefits and payroll taxes, now comes to $86,858.
Over half of the state payroll increase in the past
two years has been concentrated in higher education, where the number of FTEs
has grown by 5 percent in the State University and 11 percent in the City
University.
(See full report here for details and charts.)
* Total
compensation costs were calculated using the Division of the Budget estimate
that benefits and payroll taxes average 45.6 percent of salaries across all job
titles.
