The Highest Paid Employees At Lamorinda City Halls

The 10 most highly compensated employees at the city halls in Lamorinda received between $111,000 and $322,000 each in salaries and benefits in 2012, according to a survey done by the Bay Area News Group.

At the top of the list in Lafayette is City Manager Steven Falk, who earned a base salary of $212,582 plus medical benefits, pension payments and other extras for a total compensation of $321,651.

In Moraga, the list leader is Town Manager Jill Keimach, who earned a base salary of $179,744 plus medical benefits, pension payments and other extras for a total compensation of $239,474.

In Orinda, the list leader is City Manager Janet Keeter, who earned a base salary of $181,338, plus medical benefits, pension payments and other extras for a total compensation of $231,206.

The BANG survey looked at the compensation of 279,017 public employees at 330 local agencies across the Bay Area. The employees earned a total of $17.6 billion in salary and benefits.

In a story in Sunday editions, the newspapers also detailed what is known as "pension pickups." These are situations where taxpayers pay the employees' share of their pension contribution.

These pickups have been negotiated in contracts. There are 63,000 public employees in the Bay Area who have receive this benefit. In all, the "pickups" totaled $221 million in 2012.

The newspaper listed 51 Bay Area agencies that pick up the pension contribution for all their employees.

None of the Lamorinda cities is on the list.

The Contra Costa Transportation Authority is listed. It paid the employee contribution for 20 employees at a cost of $156,604.

The Central Contra Costa Sanitary District also picked up the contribution for 284 employees at a cost of $1.4 million.

BART picked up the pension contribution for 3,373 employees at a cost of $17 million.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District picked up 328 employees' contributions at a cost of $1.1 million.