I appreciate the idea of being able to access this information. It only seems fair considering those salaries are coming from tax payer dollars. I guess I don't get why it's even being discussed. People have a right to know. By the way, this is coming from someone who is married to a public employee.

"The answer is to pay people what they deserve to be paid. "
THIS.

I sincerely hope that the attention this entire topic is getting gets redirected to something of actual importance.

p.s. Thank you for the extremely well-written article!

I'm completely against the government posting anyone's salary online. In my business every once in awhile an employee will tell another their salary and the fall out is a nightmare. In my opinion it is no one's business what I or anyone else makes. No one has an idea what I do for a living or my daily duties. As far as the whole tax payer dollar argument, it is complete nonsense. The contribution any of our tax dollars makes to salary is minute at best. Anyone who supports this government intrusion should post their salary along. Heather: What is your husband's salary and while we're at it what is yours? Do you go around your office broadcasting it to your coworkers?

Coming from a military family, the military pay scale is widely available and published, and guess what, it doesn't cause fall out, embarassment, or problems in the ranks. Why? Because soldiers are disciplined professionals who know there's more to their jobs than a number. Sadly, many other folks paid with public money only care about their number, which is often higher than a soldier's, and working their 40 hours a week.

Pay people what they're worth and the lump in the cube next to you will have his salary reduced. That's the real problem with govt wages, they're based far too much and far too often on years of service rather than actual value to the agency or the public.

Your comment is almost comical, but I'll try to treat it seriously. Yes, the military payscale is widely published. However, you can't look up your neighbor's salary while wondering "gees, I wonder how they bought that hot tub on their salary." I think your description of some public employees is broad brush. In any profession, the military included, there are "lumps." Considering that I'm not in the military does that mean I'm not a disciplined professional? Trust me, if I cared only about money I wouldn't be in the profession I'm in and working 60 hours a week. The military, I might add, is the largest drain on public funds in this country. What are the one and two top budget expenditures: The DOD & VA. So please, wave your flag somewhere else because this private citizen isn't buying it.

Salaries for government workers fall under FOIA. Journalists and the public want to know if a particular salary is out of the norm. And while the primary focus is often on people at the top, unusually high salaries at a low-end job might raise eyebrows, which is why they are reviewed. Tax dollars do indeed pay government salaries; I'm not sure where else you think that money comes from. The goal is not to embarrass anyone or attempt to reach equality, but a simple matter of accountability to those paying the salaries.

Dusty, what's your salary? I never said tax dollars didn't. I said the personal investment from your tax dollars is minute. Accountability, to whom and why? There's a better chance of this information being misused than there is any public benefit. If you're willing to give up your civil liberties that's fine. Leave mine alone.

What are you going to do with the information? Nothing. You'll sit at your computer eating cheetos looking up your neighbors' salaries and making judgments about it. Nothing more. By the way, what's your salary? Seem to ask that question alot with no responses.

Salaries for any employee who is paid with public money must remain public information. The information that should be released is the title of the job and the pay. I personally don't care who the person is, but most of the time I should be able to match the title to the person with a little extra work. Whenever public money is used, the information tied to that money must be public information or there is absolutely no way to track for potential abuses.

What does it matter what John Doe, a Grade 13 makes? You have no idea what his job responsibilities are or anything else. You are basing a judgment strictly on a number. I can find out what someone makes by finding their grade. What do I need their name for? The media is in the business of tearing the government down, not raising people up. Oh, and by the way, I still don't know what you make.

kidding about the salary.

But if my job was funded with public money and I made $220,000 when the other employees with the same job made $50,000 with only a few years of experience apart, that could reflect problems that need further review. The fact this information is public is why important stories such as the one in Richmond about the law enforcement official who hired more than 10 family members once he was elected and paid them high salaries or the town manager in California who illegally lined his own wallet with public money that went undetected for years. If this information was not public, these stories would never come to light and people would take advantage of the secrecy. You made a choice to work for the government.

Couple of comments:

(1) Per taxpayer, salary is indeed minute amount. But as an overall percentage of any agency's budget, it's huge (e.g., there's a state agency I know of with a total budget of roughly $185,000, and salary makes up roughly $150,000 of that).

(2) As mentioned in the article, my salary is $51,000 (Dave wanted supporters to post their salaries.)

Thanks for the comments, folks, and keep the conversation going (respectfully, of course, and I definitely recommend eating Cheetos while doing anything on the Internet).

Megan Rhyne
Virginia Coalition for Open Government

Unfortunately, Megan, salaries in most businesses take up a huge portion of the budget. I've been doing budgets for 20 years and I can't remember one where that wasn't the case. We can call this a wash because there is absolutely no way you will ever get me to agree that publishing a person's salary, anyone's salary, is a good idea.

I just believe that people, no matter where they work or in their private lives, have a right to privacy. To publish someone's name and salary is a violation of that privacy. Shouldn't matter if you work for the government or not. Dan and Dusty obviously agree with that since they refuse to post their salaries. I simply assume that you are either embarrassed by your salaries or feel what you make far outweighs the work you actually do. Also, since you all work for the print media you have a vested interest in this fight. Out of everyone I've asked only 2 have said they wouldn't mind having this information published.

These employees chose to go work for the government. It's pretty common knowledge that this information is public. They are not forced to work there, if they don't like it they are always more than welcome to seek employment elsewhere.

Alexander Kjerulf (author Kjerulf of Happy Hour is 9 to 5) writing in The HR Specialist newsletter http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/28228/keeping-salaries-secret-is-it-time-to-end-the-silence ), says open pay info can benefit organizations and their people BUT ONLY if employees know which factors influence salaries. (i.e., Are they based on customer satisfaction, hours worked, quality, sales figures, seniority, skills or education?) If the criteria are not clearly stated, "comparisons are meaningless."

My point: for VA's public employees, even when their salary info is made known we have no idea whether they are the kind of salaried employees who work exactly 9 to 5 w/ 2-hour lunches or the kind that start their day w/ 7:30am breakfast meetings and rarely get home til after kids are asleep & connect 24/7 to Blackberry, do weekend events, etc...connecting the person with the salary seems to paint a big target on their backs, not just from coworkers but from public they serve.
So many people grouse about the salaries of Congress but there is huge difference if you're a congressman from northern va and only have to maintain ONE home, vs. one from NYC where you need two residences or from Hawaii or Calif. where you must spend a lot of time in travel alone to get back to your district.

Congrats to Dave for standing up to the trolls and the journalists looking for cheap page hits. An employee's salary, no matter where they work, is no one business unless that employee authorizes that release, or the job requires some type of public disclosure. So it is appropriate to know what representatives make, CEOs of public compnaies, the Superintendent of Schools, but I cannot for the life of me see how anyone needs to know the salary for a school janitor, a policeman, or the database administrator at the DMV. It is just fodder for sensationalized jounalism and busybody citizens with too much time on their hands. Let's spend more time working to elect competent people and give them the monetary support and goals to do their job effectively.

Megan thanks for your informative article. You are not a troll! Even though I actually agreed w/ Concerned Taxpayer but was startled at the words "trolls and journalists looking for cheap page hits"and had to go back to see what "Concerned Taxpayer" was referring too. (and we're all concerned taxpayers...on that I think we can all agree :)

Why not replace names with job titles? Wouldn't that satisfy everyone? You can still see what the high-level executives get paid, and can see if there are any salary outliers, but the average worker's privacy would be protected.

I would never call a journalist a troll. I do agree that we live in a society where media sensationalism runs rampant. The media needs to blame someone for the economic mess we're in so it's government employees. Instead of worrying about government grunts why not look at government contractors who rip off the American people year after year with little or no consequences. Dusty, I just think you're trying to cut your teeth on something and this happens to be your baby.

DAVE mentions looking at "government contractors who rip off the American people." That's a good idea, and we are always glad when government proactively posts their contracts online so people can see the contracts and -- hopefully -- any performance reviews that go along with it. I'd note that those contracts don't exist in a vacuum. Someone had to write the RFP, someone had to award the contract, someone had to monitor the contractor's performance. That someone is a government employee, and I think knowing the names and salaries of those employees could be an important part of assessing whether it was a job well or poorly done.

I don't think the media _blames_ govt employees, they do report bad behavior that comes to light by both govt employees, contractors, campaign contributors, friends of politicians, etc (and it's good they do) if they report good behavior it barely gets noticed. But it's so unfair to malign "all govt employees" because of bad behavior by a few ... they are a group as diverse as America ... including the entire military! so it really annoys me when people assume they're slackers.
Here's what The HR Specialist newsletter reports happened in Calif. when salary info was made public... a good argument for VA to raise the minimum salary level that is entitled to privacy.

Counterpoint: Comparing salaries a morale-buster?
Allowing employees to compare their salaries with those of colleagues can hurt morale, according to a 2010 study by professors at the University of California at Berkeley.

When employees at 3 University of California campuses were able to see the salaries of their colleagues, those with the lowest paychecks reported less job satisfaction and a greater desire to seek other job opportunities.

Those with pay falling above the median reported no change in job satisfaction.

The authors said the finding debunks the notion that those who know they earn more than their colleagues are happier with their jobs.
Source: http://www.thehrspecialist.com/

If we are concerned about where our money goes, why aren't we also posting who receiving other forms of government funding by name? Why aren't we listing who receives social spending by name and amount? A list of food stamps and WIC support by name, or unemployment benefits by name? I think that is as valid when the argument "I want to know where my tax dollars are going" is used.

Outstanding article Megan!

Look = you can find out roughly how much most people make. Check out this site. There are plenty more sites out there like this one:
http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Bath-and-Body-Works-Store-Manager-Salaries-E13902_D_KO20,33.htm

Megan, there is absolutely no difference between government "actors" and government beneficiaries. They are all paid through our tax dollars, it's just more palatable to attack government employees than it is to attack the elderly, the poor, and the military. I would also venture a bet there is far more government waste by beneficiaries than there is by "actors." You can't have it both ways.

I have this urge to FOIA DAve's salary just because I can.

Dusty, you and I will never agree on this subject and I will never change my position. It is none of your business what a specific government employee makes. You can find out what a GS13 makes and I have no problem with that.

No need for your taxes, Dave. I am not entitled to that information and I have no use for it. Thanks. I have every right to your salary as a government employee, though. You don't have any retirement plan with your government job? Last I knew, the state's employee retirement plans were costing taxpayers millions and millions of dollars and the state is struggling with coming up with enough money to pay these plans. Dave, most journalists will not be FOIAing your salary, as I assume you are not a director of a department or the head of some huge operation. I have no idea what's caused you to be so upset about this, but you're right: No journalist in the world is going to agree with you and you know this, but you've continued to vent here for about a month now. Let's move on and agree to disagree.

And for the record, Dusty, when we worked at Leesburg Today we published government employee salaries annually. You remember? It was a special insert every year and we published the top 10 salaries in Loudoun County and then the top salaries for each department, I believe. This insert was the most popular insert Leesburg Today ever published.

Right

Well, Dan, the one thing you fail to get is that I am NOT a government employee and as a member of the middle class the only thing I get (or expect) from my government is the shaft. Much like you, I assume, I am college educated and have 2 post-graduate degrees. Based on information I obtained by simply Gogling you, I would say I was sitting on silos and chaining myself to trees while you were still in diapers. And, although I am against the government's right to invade people's privacy at whim, I'm even more against "journalists" trying to make hay on the same right. Unfortunately, the press and the government are both necessary evils. I agree to disagree with you.

"On Saturday, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez announced to the New Mexico Press Association that the state's official transparency website will soon include the names, titles and salary rates of all state employees regardless of classification."
Santa Fe New Mexican, Saturday, Oct. 29
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/-Portal--will-list-state-salaries

I feel they should release the salary rate for the job and classification, including any extra items, like extra for education, a supplied take home vehicle, paid membership fee to organizations and the travel to meetings. Lay is all out, the name is not needed.
Just Mike