Denver-based Public Service Credit Union, a not-for-profit, awarded its president and chief executive, David Maus, $11 million in 2010, a sum so large it has rocked the credit-union world and beyond.

“It is what the credit-union community has always expected of Wall Street, but we were shocked to see it come down to Main Street,” said Stuart Perlitsh, chief executive and president at Glendale Area School Federal Credit Union in California.

Perlitsh said that in his 27 years of running a credit union, he has never seen another compensation package approaching what Maus received.

“Give me a higher interest rate on savings or a lower rate on my car loans,” said Edward Martin, one of PSCU’s 130,000 members.

Martin said he switched from Chase Bank to PSCU in November to avoid high fees and protest excessive executive pay. He said he would have picked a different credit union had he known.

The bulk of the compensation reported, $9.3 million, represents an accrued retirement plan payment to reward Maus for more than three decades of service, according to the credit union’s Form 990 filed with the IRS.

But Maus hasn’t pulled the cord on his golden parachute just yet. He will receive a bigger share of his final pay if he stays on, and the credit union set aside another $1.2 million for future retirement benefits.

Maus’ base salary the past few years has run just under $500,000 annually, not counting bonuses. The median CEO salary for credit unions that size is about $451,000, according to Executive Compensation Solutions of Covina, Calif.

That may come as a shock to those who view their credit-union managers as more akin to quasi-public servants working on behalf of their members. But bigger credit unions are going toe-to-toe with banks and have to pay accordingly, said Alec Berkman, chief executive at Executive Compensation Solutions.

Maus’ salary is higher than that paid at two other state-chartered credit unions of similar size and about $34,000 below what Bellco, which is nearly twice as large, paid its CEO.

But where Maus blows away the competition is the amount set aside for his retirement.

Maus said he took a tiny $15 million credit union with seven employees primarily serving Public Service Company of Colorado workers to a $1.15 billion institution with 350 employees and 28 branches.

“There are very few credit-union executives who have been in their position with one credit union that long and who have taken them as far as what we have accomplished,” Maus said.

He also has been active nationally in the credit-union movement, helping create the country’s largest no-fee ATM network.

The PSCU board sought to match about 70 percent of Maus’ pay in retirement. But the board got a late start, after he had been on the job 25 years.

Negotiations went on for a year and a half, with each side retaining its own counsel. JoAnne Groff, chairwoman of the PSCU board, described the plan as a set of “golden handcuffs,” designed to keep Maus in place as the credit union embarked on important initiatives.

“I am absolutely convinced that PSCU would not be the credit union that we are had we not had him as our leader,” Groff said. Had Maus left before the five years was up, he would have lost his retirement benefits.

Former SEC chief accountant Lynn Turner said PSCU had to set aside $53.5 million for bad loans in 2009, which raises the question of whether Maus really delivered the performance necessary to justify such a big payout.

More fundamentally, Turner questioned why the board didn’t set up a retirement plan sooner, so the costs could be spread across more members over more years.

“It really reflects a board that didn’t do a very good job in long-term compensation planning,” he said.

The payout also is raising questions of how much is too much, especially given the emphasis Occupy Wall Street and other groups have put on getting people to switch from banks to credit unions.

“We need to get our feet back on the ground,” said Dale Kerslake, president and chief executive of Cascade Federal Credit Union in the Seattle area. “We are a tax-exempt and member-owned industry.”

Kerslake reviewed PSCU’s fourth-quarter report to see if executive compensation might be draining funds that should be going to members.

“Compared to their peer average, PSCU’s loan rates are higher, their fees are higher and their cost of funds is about half,” he said.

“Their annual meeting is coming up on April 21,” Kerslake said. “That is the correct place for the members to express their opinions.”

Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/aldosvaldi

Breaking down David Maus’ pay package$9.3 MILLION

Retirement payout for more than 30 years of service

$1.2 MILLION

Deferral for future retirement payout

$500,000

Approximate base salary