November 12, 2019 – by Guy Page – As of September 27, 2019, 580 employees of the State of Vermont annually earn more than $100,000.
The 10 best-paid state employees are:
- Steven Shapiro, Chief Medical Examiner, Dept. of Health, $195,042
- Jonathan Strenio, Medicaid Medical Director, Vermont Health Access, $182,582
- Philip Scott, Governor, $181,646.
- Paul Reiber, Chief Justice, Judiciary, $174,824
- Elizabeth Bundock, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, Dept. of Health, $172,120
- Beth Robinson, Associate Justice, Judiciary, $166,858
- Brian Grearson, Chief Administrative Judge, Judiciary, $166,858
- Patricia Gabel, State Court Administrator, Judiciary, $166,858
- Harold Eaton Jr., Associate Justice, Judiciary, $166,858
- Karen Carroll, Associate Justice, Judiciary, $166,858
The Chief Medical Examiner is a forensic pathologist leading Vermont’s statewide medical examiner system. The office performs several hundred autopsies per year and reviews paperwork of the roughly 5,000 deaths that occur in Vermont annually. Actual death investigation – for example, ascertaining cause of death at crime scenes and car crashes – relies on community-based death investigators coordinated through a central system led by the CME, the CME web page says.
As with many of the best-paying State of Vermont jobs, the job market offers (pardon the expression) stiff competition for the services of forensic pathologists. They can can earn up to $290,000, or even more. Medical, IT, health care, and legal professionals are similarly well-paid both in and outside of state government.
On the other end of the six-figure pay spectrum, Dept. of Financial Regulation insurance examiners Jennie Kerner and James Devoe-Talutto both earn $100,068. Also, a few highly skilled employees are paid better than the chief executives of the agencies, departments or offices for whom they work. All salary information in this article is publicly available on the State of Vermont website.
Most of the $150K+ employees are Superior or Supreme Court justices. Others earning above $150K include:
- Anthony Roisman, Chair, Public Utilities Commission, $158,621
- Kevin Mullin, Chair, Green Mountain Care Board, $158,621
- Thomas Durkin, Environmental Judge, $158,621
- Mark Levine, Commissioner, Dept. of Health, $155,730
- Eric Henry, Principal Assistant, State Treasurer’s Office, $154,918
- Tanya Elizabeth Morehouse, Chief Auditor, Auditor of Accounts’ Office, $152,568
Others include (in descending order of compensation):
- Matthew Birmingham, Vermont State Police Colonel, $148,743
- Linda Lambert, Dir, IT & Performance Audits, Auditor of Accounts’ Office, $146,973
- Patsy Tassler Kelso, State Epidemiologist, $146,640
- Jason Gibbs, Chief of Staff for Gov. Scott, $146,141
- Nancy Hogue, Executive Director, Vermont Health Access, $145,080
- Susanne Young, Administration Agency Secretary, $143,603
- John Quinn III, Digital Services Agency Secretary, $143,603
- Lindsay Kurrle, Secretary Agency of Commerce & Community Development, $143,603
- Daniel French, Secretary Agency of Education, $143,603
- Joseph Flynn, Secretary Agency of Transportation, $143,603
- Anson Tebbetts, Secretary Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, 143,312
- Julia Moore, Secretary of Agency of Natural Resources, $143,312
- Michael Schirling, Commissioner of Public Safety, $143,021
- Stephanie Taylor Shaw, Executive Director, Mental Health, $141,773
- Wayne Gammell, Director of AOT Finance & Administration, $139,672
- Stephen Klein, Joint Fiscal Officer, $138,653
- Thomas J. Donovan Jr., Attorney General, $137,883
- Carol Hassler, Dir Child W/Spec. Health Need, Dept. of Health, $137,592
- Cory Gustafson, Commissioner, Vermont Health Access, $135,221
- Francis Reed, Director of Mental Health Services, $134,514
About five percent of Vermont State employees in the database earn more than $100,000. The average median household income for Vermonters is $57,513, according to Datausa. To view salaries of more than 10,361 Vermont State employees, click here.