The health care field has, as they say, been very very good to state employees, at least those at the top of the pay scale, according to data out Tuesday from the Empire Center. The fiscally conservative think tank has assembled a list of Top 10 earners and, with the exception of Nano College’s Alain Kaloyeros, they all are at SUNY or CUNY medical centers. State psychiatrists also did well according to the survey.

The Empire Center has also posted its annual database of state government payroll, transparency that drives many privacy-minded public employees bats.

Here are the details:

The complete 2013 New York state government payroll is now posted on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government spending transparency website.

The updated database includes the names, titles, base pay rates, and total pay of more than 287,000 individuals who worked in the state’s executive, legislative, or judicial branches at any point in calendar year 2013. Taxpayers can search state government payroll records dating back to 2008.
The data show:

  • • For the second year in a row, the highest paid employee on the state payroll is Antonio Alfonso, who has the title of teaching professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center. His pay totaled $1,086,145.
  • 1,316 state government employees earned more than the governor’s $179,000 salary.
  • Of the top 50 highest paid executive branch employees, 49 worked for one of the State’s psychiatric centers or are a psychiatrist; 44 of the 50 highest paid employees at SUNY and CUNY worked at hospitals.

Not reflected in the data are costs of pensions, health insurance for employees and retirees, and other benefits. Tables listing average pay by executive agency and the 50 highest-paid employees by branch of state government in 2013 are attached.

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