What do Phoenix's 20 highest-paid city employees make?

The $315,000 base salary of Phoenix's city manager has been a source of public debate in recent years after former manager David Cavazos received a controversial $78,000 raise, bumping him to that level.

But what size paychecks are the rest of the city's senior-level staff taking home?

Through a public-records request, The Republic has compiled a list of the city's top 20 earners. As a group, these executives keep the nation's sixth-largest city running and oversee about 14,000 city workers who provide services to more than 1.5 million residents.

Still, their six-figure salaries aren't a rarity within Phoenix government.

There are roughly 450 city employees who earn more than $100,000 per year in base salary, according to the data. Drop the bar just a little bit, and there are about 940 city employees with salaries above $99,000.

However, the base salary paid to the city's executives and middle managers often falls behind what's received by their counterparts in the private sector, city research indicates.

A 2011 study compiled by the Segal Company, an outside consultant, found that city employees as a whole receive lower salaries on average than their peers in the private sector. The same is true for the city's more senior-level employees, who fall below the private-sector market by 10 percent or more.

For example, Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher, who replaced Cavazos, earns the same hotly disputed $315,500 salary as his predecessor. By comparison, the chief executive officers of several publicly traded Arizona companies with far fewer employees than the city receive more than $1.5 million in total pay, according to Republic research.

But city workers generally receive slightly higher overall compensation than the market given their pensions, health care and other benefits, the Segal report says (not including pension changes affecting employees hired since July 1, 2013, which reduced benefits).

The study also noted that Phoenix's retirement benefits for executives and middle managers are often more "generous" than the public and private market — the city contributes 8 percent of those employees' salaries to a 401(k)-style plan, in addition to their pensions.

Of the 14 executive-level city positions examined in the Segal report, the consultant found that nine are receiving a larger compensation package than the market rate for their position. However, most city executives haven't received raises for a few years while managers in the private sector generally have seen modest raises.

Critics of Phoenix's pay-and-benefit structure said the study was skewed and didn't include enough responses from private companies. They also point out that the city's average cost per employee, including the rank and file, now tops $100,000.

In addition to salary and retirement, the city's top earners receive a monthly $100 cellphone allowance and a $280 to $435 car allowance. They can also accrue unused sick and vacation days and sell it back to the city upon retirement, often netting tens of thousands of dollars.

20 highest-paid Phoenix city employees

The salaries of some top Phoenix city officials have sparked a public debate in recent years. Check out what the city's 20 highest-paid employees are making in base salary.

Ed Zuercher

Title: City manager

Salary: $314,999.36

Date hired: July 1993

Years with City: 21.7

Previous title: Assistant city manager

Milton Dohoney

Title: Assistant city manager

Salary: $234,998.40

Date hired: April 2014

Years with City: 0.91

Previous title: Cincinnati city manager

Rick Naimark

Title: Deputy city manager

Salary: $206,912.16

Date hired: July 1986

Years with City: 28.7

Previous title: Executive assistant to the city manager

Joseph Yahner

Title: Police chief

Salary: $193,799.84

Date hired: February 1985\

Years with City: 30.06

Previous title: Executive assistant police chief

Kara Kalkbrenner

Title: Fire chief

Salary: $182,499.20

Date hired: February 1985

Years with City: 30.12

Previous title: Executive assistant fire chief

Karen Peters

Title: Senior executive assistant to the city manager

Salary: $178,568

Date hired: October 2005

Years with City: 9.42

Previous title: Chief of staff to the mayor

Debbie Cotton

Title: Chief information officer

Salary: $177,415.68

Date hired: July 1992

Years with City: 22.68

Previous title: Phoenix Convention Center director

Eric Jeffery

Title: Chief presiding judge

Salary: $177,199.36

Date hired: January 1993

Years with City: 22.14

Previous title: Assistant presiding judge

Paul Blue

Title: Deputy city manager

Salary: $170,468.48

Date hired: July 1990

Years with City: 24.7

Previous title: Executive assistant to the city manager

Deanna Jonovich

Title: Deputy city manager

Salary: $170,468.48

Date hired: August 2001

Years with City: 13.61

Previous title: Executive assistant to the city manager

Kathryn Sorensen

Title: Water service director

Salary: $170,000.48

Date hired: August 2013

Years with City: 1.6

Previous title: Mesa water resources director

Dan Brown

Title: Acting city attorney

Salary: $168,215.84

Date hired: March 1997

Years with City: 18

Previous title: Assistant city attorney

Neal Young

Title: Chief financial officer

Salary: $167,943.36

Date hired: February 2001

Years with City: 14.1

Previous title: Senior executive assistant to the city manager

Kevin Robinson

Title: Police commander

Salary: $160,147.52

Date hired: August 1980

Years with City: 34.57

Previous title: Assistant police chief

John Trujillo

Title: Public works director

Salary: $158,392

Date hired: July 2002

Years with City: 12.68

Previous title: Assistant public works director

Harry Markley

Title: Assistant police chief

Salary: $157,626.56

Date hired: October 1986

Years with City: 28.45

Previous title: Police commander

Christine Mackay

Title: Community and economic development director

Salary: $156,249.60

Date hired: August 2014

Years with City: 0.56

Previous title: Chandler economic development director

James Burke

Title: Parks and recreation director

Salary: $153,736.96

Date hired: April 1984

Years with City: 30.93

Previous title: Assistant parks and recreation director

Mark Angle

Title: Executive assistant fire chief

Salary: $152,942.40

Date hired: March 1984

Years with City: 31.04

Previous title: Assistant fire chief

John Chan

Title: Phoenix Convention Center director

Salary: $152,258.08

Date hired: September 1992

Years with City: 22.47

Previous title: Interim community and economic development director

Source: Phoenix Human Resources Department. Note: Amounts and years worked are current as of March 17, 2015.