Contact: Tim Hoefer, (518) 434-3100

Complete report in PDF format

The complete 2012 New York state government payroll is now posted on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. The database includes the names, titles, base pay rates, and total pay of 291,364 individuals who worked in the state’s executive, legislative, or judicial branches at any point in calendar year 2012.

The data show:

The highest paid employee in state government was Antonio Alfonso, a distinguished teaching professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center, according to the Medical Center’s website. His pay totaled $1,064,837 in 2012.

1,493 state employees earned more than the Governor’s $179,000 salary, nearly 500 more than in 2010.

At $99,837, the New York State Financial Control Board had the highest average earnings among Executive branch agencies (excluding SUNY & CUNY), followed closely by the New York State Police at $99,366.

Not reflected in the data are costs of pensions, health insurance for employees and retirees, and other benefits. Tables listing the 50 highest-paid employees by branch of state government in 2012 are available here.

Users of SeeThroughNY can search or sort the database by name, agency, subagency, title, salary, and total earnings. The state payroll database now contains data for every calendar year since 2008.

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