Waukesha County Sheriff, Wisconsin, 2010-2011

## Contents

* 1 Salaries
* 2 Benefits
* 3 Salary records project
* 4 External links
* 5 Footnotes

* * *

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* * *

Waukesha County Sheriff salaries are public records under the Wisconsin Open Records Law.

## Salaries[edit]

According to the office's webpage, the starting salary for a Deputy Sheriff recruit is $19.12 per hour. The maximum salary for a Deputy Sheriff is $27.49 per hour, excluding overtime and educational incentives.[1]

Waukesha County Sheriff's Office salaries for 2010 are provided online by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Only two employees were listed as having earned over $100,000 in total pay. The top 10 highest-paid Sheriff's Office employees were:[2]

Name | Position | Overtime and compensatory pay | Total Pay

|
|
|

Stephen A. Marks | Inspector | $0 | $105,645.00
Michael D. Giese | Jail Administrator | $0 | $102,445.00
Daniel J. Trawicki | Sheriff | $0 | $96,751.00
James H. Briesemeister | Deputy Sheriff | $33,736.00 | $96,749.00
Eric J. Severson | Deputy Inspector | $0 | $94,069.00
Charles W. Elftman | Deputy Sheriff | $31,340.00 | $93,383.00
Matthew E. Thompson | Deputy Sheriff | $30,321.00 | $92,916.00
Margaret E. Schnabl | Senior Correctional Facility Manager | $0 | $90,165.00
David J. Carpenter | Deputy Sheriff | $21,641.00 | $89,618.00
Kurt K. Kveen | Deputy Sheriff | $26,312.00 | $89,063.00

The office's 2011 adopted budget contained total expenditures of $37,539,718. Of that total, $30,405,947, or over 80%, was dedicated to personnel costs. The full-time employee equivalent for this expenditure was listed as 371.69.[3]

## Benefits[edit]

The county pays for 90% of employees' health and dental insurance, while employees cover 10% of the cost. Employees receive county-paid life insurance. The county likewise pays for participation in the Wisconsin Retirement Fund.[1]

An educational incentive pays $37.00 extra per month for an Associate's Degree or 60 credits towards a Bachelor's Degree. A Bachelor's Degree earns approximately $129.00 per month. Employees earn one day of sick leave per month, up to 120 days. Sheriff's Office employees earn 10 vacation days after one year of employment, 15 days after seven years, 20 days after 14 years, and 25 days after 23 years. They receive 11 paid holidays per year.[1]

## Salary records project[edit]

In 2011, Sunshine Review chose 152 local governments as the focus of research on public employee salaries. The editors of Sunshine Review selected eight states with relevant political contexts (listed alphabetically):

1\. California
2\. Florida
3\. Illinois
4\. Michigan
5\. New Jersey
6\. Pennsylvania
7\. Texas
8\. Wisconsin

Within these states, the editors of Sunshine Review focused on the most populous cities, counties and school districts, as well as the emergency services entities within these governments. The purpose of this selection method was to develop articles on governments affecting the most citizens.

The salary information garnered from these states were a combination of existing online resources and state Freedom of Information Act requests sent out to the governments.

A study published by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia said the city of Philadelphia faced challenges owing to the cost of public employee pensions.[4] The report claimed the amount that Philadelphia paid to pension recipients limited the city’s ability to use its budget effectively.

The report said there were more individuals receiving pension benefits—33,907 claimants in 2006—than workers in the city—28,701.[4] The authors recommended three steps towards addressing the problem of high costs in pensions: improved data collection, expanded transparency initiatives, and reductions to the city's overall budget.[4]

Salary schedules can be published as ranges, not as specific compensation figures, and may leave out compensation received through health and retirement benefits, as well as benefits such as commuter allowances and cell phone reimbursements. This project aimed to close the gap and provide a more accurate picture of public employee salaries for the sake of public education and transparency.

## External links[edit]

* State Budget Solutions -- Wisconsin

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Waukesha County, Becoming a Deputy
2. ↑ Waukesha County Pay and Overtime for 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 2, 2011
3. ↑ Waukesha County, Office of the Sheriff, 2011 Adopted Operating Budget
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 '’Philadelphia’s Quiet Crisis: The Rising Cost of Employee Benefits, Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, January 23, 2008

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