We filed an open records request with Human Resources at El Paso County requesting a list of all employees, their titles, and their salaries. The El Paso County Attorney’s Office provided us with the attached list of 2,996 employees, more than 98% of whom are salaried.
The highest paid employee is Chief Medical Examiner Mario Rascon ($438,426), followed by Deputy Medical Examiner Janice Diaz Cavalliery ($282,078), Chief Administrator Betsy Keller ($274,937), and City Auditor Barbara Parker ($255,124).
We had previously reported that the Chief Auditor is the highest paid employee of the County, based upon incomplete data we had obtained elsewhere. In fact, Parker is the fourth highest paid County employee. I regret the error.
After the latest round of raises goes into effect October 1, there will be 373 County employees earning more than $100,000 per year. The highest wage earners are mostly judges, attorneys, court staff, law enforcement officers, and principals.
By contrast, only 185 City employees and 99 EPISD employees earn over $100,000 per year.
The four County Commissioners will earn $133,467 and the County Judge $152,725, while City Council representatives earn under $60,000 and the Mayor around $85,000.
Surprisingly, the Senior Policy Advisors of the County Commissioners will also earn more than $101,000 per year (compared to under $60,000 for the equivalent staff of City Council representatives), which is far more than the Mayor.
Near the bottom of the County pay scale are employees such as Custodians and Cashiers (starting at $20,713), and Office Assistants (starting at $29,650).
Buen domingo.