Board’s aggregate pay less than city manager’s salary

Combined base pay for the five members on Carson City’s governing board in 2013 is lower than last year’s base pay of the city manager they oversee.

Not only that, the base pay levels for five others in city government each exceeded that board aggregate of $121,782.

The mayor and four supervisors making city policy are citizen officials in our city-manager form of government, relying on city staffers to carry out the policy the Board of Supervisors sets for Nevada’s capital.

City Manager Larry Werner’s base pay last year was $138,593; Mayor Robert Crowell’s base pay in his capacity heading the governing board is about $30,594.

Crowell, of course, is an attorney and a lobbyist. The four supervisors also have sources of income outside their work on the board. In the mayor’s case, his disclosure statement for this year shows five additional sources of income along with his city salary, plus ownership interest in four pieces of property and association with four business enterprises.

Base city pay for Supervisors John McKenna, Karen Abowd, Brad Bonkowski and Jim Shirk was listed at $22,976 each. The supervisors and mayor also receive varying benefits packages; the mayor’s is highest, at $21,685.

Werner’s base pay in his contract with the board is $138,593, and that could go up later this year by some 2 percent, or about $2,770.