The complete 2018 New York state government payroll is now posted on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency website.

The updated database includes the names, titles, base pay rates and total pay of more than 297,000 individuals who worked in the state’s executive, legislative or judicial branches at any point during calendar year 2018. Taxpayers can search state government payrolls dating back to 2008 on the SeeThroughNY.net website.

During 2018, the data show:

• The highest-paid employee on the state payroll was Dr. Gary Green, a Clinical Associate Professor of Health Science at SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse. His pay totaled $752,827.
• A total of 3,793 state employees, including 2,559 executive branch workers, were paid more than Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $179,000 salary.
• Included in the 100 highest-paid state employees are four SUNY coaches. At SUNY Buffalo, basketball coach Nathanael Oats was paid $664,396 (#4) and football coach Lance Leipold was paid $472,247 (#41). At SUNY Stony Brook, football coach Charles Priore was paid $429,915 (#64), and basketball coach Jeffrey Boals was paid $396,215 (#90).
• All but one of the 100 highest-paid state government employees worked for either the State University of New York (SUNY) or the City University of New York (CUNY).

Not reflected in the data are costs of pensions, health insurance for employees and retirees, and other benefits.

The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies that can make New York a better place to live, work and raise a family.