Watchdog: State wage growth ‘unsustainable’
The state’s soaring payroll — a lofty $7.74 billion last year — is blowing past what Bay State residents pull down, one government watchdog warned. “The state payroll has been growing at a much faster rate than the median household income for Boston. It’s unsustainable,” said Greg Sullivan, the former state Inspector General now at the Pioneer Institute. “We have very large unfunded liabilities. … The Legislature would be well advised to try to constrain the growth of the state budget and focus on paying what we owe,” Sullivan added. The median household income in Massachusetts, he said, is $73,227. That take-home pay has climbed by about 15 percent in the past five years, Sullivan said. But, he added, the state payroll has jumped 23 percent. The state Comptroller’s Office posted the new payrolls Thursday for all to see, with more to come, if the head of the agency wins his battle for more transparency. “The people who are providing these funds deserve to know how their money is being spent,” said Comptroller Thomas Shack, who added he’s pushing all quasi-public agencies to share their payrolls with his office. The payroll data analyzed and posted by the Herald shows state police lead the pack when it comes to average pay — at an arresting $125,000. Those at the Executive Office of Administration and Finance pull down an average annual check of $91,000. Next in line are those at the Department of Environmental Protection and the Appeals Court — at $90,000, respectively. All the state payrolls are online today at bostonherald.com.