The amazing expanding city payroll

Even as New Yorkers are facing the possibility of a smaller police force and reduced fire services, the mayor’s office is boasting some of the highest salaries of any city agency, with nearly one in five of its staffers pulling in at least $100,000 a year.

At $71,626, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office pays one of the highest average salary of any major department, according to a government watchdog, the Empire Center for New York State Policy, which yesterday posted online a database of city workers’ pay.

Mayor's office paying big bucks to staffers

During the flush years, the city payroll has ballooned. The number of full-time city workers as of June 2008 was just over 311,000, up from about 250,000 in 1999, the Wall Street Journal has reported. In total, the Empire Center said there were 427,759 full- and part-time employees — equal to about 5 percent of the city’s total population and larger than the populations of Miami or Minneapolis.

Among the other big spenders in the city are the public advocate’s office, where six out of 41 workers make more than $100,000 a year and the City Council, where 118 out of 909 – or 14 percent – clear that much.

The salary figures, provided by the city to Empire Center, represent the payroll as of June 30, 2008 and do not include overtime earnings.

But hey, to make up for it, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration will forgo luxury boxes at the new Yankees and Mets ballparks, the city said Tuesday after months of criticism about its handling of the stadium projects.

The administration has worked out a new deal with the Yankees to get extra money, instead of a luxury box. A separate and similar agreement is being worked out with the Mets for their new park, a Bloomberg spokesman said.