The names and salaries of 186,223 people who worked for New York’s county, city, town and village governments in 2009-10 are available at SeeThroughNY.net, the transparency website sponsored by the Empire Center for Public Policy.

The Empire Center also released a report, “2009-10 Public Payrolls,” which summarizes average wages on a regional basis for each of the 1,512 local governments (outside New York City) contained in the database, which is based on reports filed with the state pension system.  Some highlights:

• County and municipal salaries during the period totaled nearly $9.6 billion.
• The highest paid municipal employee in the state in 2009-10 was Town of Clarkstown Police Chief Peter Noonan, who earned a total of $301,534.
• Among those appearing on multiple payrolls during the year, the individual with the most numerous employers was Raynor Duncombe, who earned $36,959 as a part-time attorney for 11 Schoharie County jurisdictions.
• One individual who appeared on both the “highest-paid” and “multiple employers” list was Michael J. Bolender, who collected a total of $249,979 in salaries while working for six different western New York towns and villages.
• The highest average salary for any group–$158,965–was reported for the 46 officers employed by the Village of Lynbrook on Long Island.  Among larger employers, the town of Clarkstown paid its 168 cops a state-leading average of $146,067.  Six-figure average salaries were the norm for local police and firefighters throughout Long Island and the lower Mid-Hudson region.
• For general employees outside the police and fire pension system, the top average salary of $81,172 was paid by the Village of Old Westbury.  Among counties, Westchester general employees were paid the highest statewide average salary at $69,607. Among cities, Yonkers topped the statewide list at $71,659.  And among towns, the statewide leader was yet another Westchester jurisdiction–New Castle, at $67,126.

The database consists of full-time and part-time workers, including employees who left or retired during the fiscal year, and employees hired during the year.  Salary totals include overtime and pay for unused sick and vacation time.

The 2009 City of New York payroll is also available on SeeThroughNY.net.  The site includes salaries of 1.5 million state, municipal, school district and authority employees. Other government databases at SeeThroughNY include teachers’ union contracts and schools superintendent employment contracts for all school districts; public employee pensions; bi-annual legislative office expenditures; legislative “member item” pork barrel spending; and links to other government and private databases.