A community college president in Genesee County was the highest-paid municipal government worker in the Finger Lakes region of New York, according to the latest edition of “What They Make,” the Empire Center’s annual report summarizing total local government pay.

James M. Sunser, president of Genesee Community College, was paid $271,848 during the 12-month period ending March 31, the Empire Center analysis found.

Other data highlights for local government employees in the Finger Lakes region, which includes Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates counties:

• The City of Rochester had the highest-paid police department in the region with employees averaging $105,250 in pay.
• The highest-paid fire department in the region was also in the City of Rochester whose employees collected an average of $92,773.
• The highest average pay for general municipal workers in the Finger Lakes Region was the $58,115 paid to the Village of Arcade’s 30 employees.
• Eight of the ten highest-paid employees in the region were county district attorneys.

The names, employers, system and pay of the 10 highest-paid local government employees in the region are listed below:

The amounts listed in the report do not include fringe benefits such as health insurance or pension contributions, which can add more than 35 percent to the cost for taxpayers.

Click here to read the full report.

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.