Agency Director Pay Beats Inflation

In the last 13 years, most state department heads have received pay increases outpacing inflation.  One exception is the Director of Parks and Recreation, whose salary in 1996 was $76,440.  In FY09, it was 31 percent higher at $100,360.  That works out to an average increase of 2.4 percent per year.  But other department heads have done better.  For instance, the directors of the state’s seven health districts have gotten raises ranging from a modest 3 percent annually, to a whopping 5.5 percent.  Carol Moehrle, director of the North Central Health District, and the only current district director who was in office in 1996, has seen her salary grow from $55,868 to $95,638, a 71 percent increase or 5.5 percent per year/ Jay Howell , Idaho Freedom Forum. More here .

Question: What do you make of the news that department heads in the state of Idaho are getting good raises when average Idahoans are struggling to hang onto their jobs?