Virginia spent nearly $8.2 billion on salaries in 2022. Here are the state’s top earners.

By Hannah Eason and Katie King, The Virginian-Pilot

A sizable bonus led to a chief investment officer being the highest paid state employee in Virginia in 2022.

Ronald Schmitz, a chief investment officer with the Virginia Retirement System, earned a $493,108 salary and received a $521,032 bonus, bringing his total wages to $1,014,140. That made him Virginia’s highest paid employee in 2022.

Some retirement system employees receive significant bonuses because of an incentive program called the Investment Professionals’ Pay Plan, according to Jeanne Chenault, public relations director for the agency. She said the program was designed to attract and retain skilled investment professionals.

A statue of Thomas Jefferson stands in front of the Rotunda on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 2018. (Steve Helber/AP)

“The VRS Board awards performance incentive pay to investment professionals based on formulas that compare three-year and five-year investment returns against a series of benchmarks for the total fund and for each asset class,” she wrote in an email. “The pay plan does allow for bonuses above salaries in certain instances for senior management when the system achieves significant excess returns for the plan’s trust fund.”

Kenneth Howell, also with the Virginia Retirement System, earned a $381,503 salary and received a $389,200 bonus.

The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press obtained state salary records through Freedom of Information Act requests and is publishing the salaries in a searchable database online. The data was provided by the Virginia Department of Accounts, Virginia Department of Human Resources Management, and in some cases, specific agencies. Employees who made less than $10,000 in 2022 were omitted. The Pilot plans to publish similar salary databases for city government and schools as part of a government transparency project.

Virginia spent nearly $8.2 billion on salaries in 2022. Ten agencies account for more than half of those salary allowances.

• The University of Virginia paid more than $788 million in salaries fore more than 8,200 employees.

• Virginia Tech paid more than $649 million in salaries for more than 7,600 employees.

• VCU Health paid just over $588 million in salaries for more than 8,700 employees.

• Virginia Commonwealth University paid more than $576 million in salaries for 6,700 employees.

• The Virginia Department of Transportation, or VDOT, paid more than $549 million in salaries for just over 7,500 employees.

• George Mason University paid more than $447 million in salaries for nearly 4,800 employees.

• James Madison University paid more than $221 million in salaries for more than 3,100 employees.

• The Department of State Police paid more than $209 million in salaries for nearly 2,700 employees.

• The Virginia Department of Health paid more than $198 million in salaries for over 3,000 employees.

• Old Dominion University paid more than $196 million in salaries for over 2,400 employees.

Out of 111,704 state employees and 221 agencies, the median salary for a state employee was $62,038.

More than $4.4 billion — that’s more than half of all salaries paid by the commonwealth — was allotted to the state’s colleges, universities and community colleges.

Meanwhile, at least $116.9 million was spent on bonuses in 2022. The figure is not definitive as some agencies did not provide bonus data. 

As for other high-earning state employees, you may find them on the football field or basketball court of Virginia’s universities.

Kim English, the former head basketball coach at George Mason University, was the second-highest paid employee, with a $925,000 salary, according to state data. English left George Mason to become the coach at Providence in March.

Several others in athletics were also top salary earners — though the state salary data doesn’t show the entire picture. Other top earners according to the state salary data included Bradley “Whit” Babcock, director of athletics for Virginia Tech; James Bowen, offensive coordinator/quarterback coach for Virginia Tech; Ricky Rahne, head football coach for Old Dominion University; and Christopher Marve-Samuel, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Virginia Tech.

The data, though, includes only base salaries paid by the state, and for many of the top-tier college football and basketball coaches, that represents only part of their income. The base salary does not include any signing bonus or supplemental income paid by the school or affiliated organizations, including athletic foundations and donors. In the case of ODU, a university spokesperson said Rahne’s compensation is paid through non-state funding.

Andrew Biggs, senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, said it’s not surprising to see football coaches in the top slots.

“You are not competing against Joe Schmoe in the private sector, you are competing against the NFL. That is where these guys would otherwise be working so the pay tends to be very, very high,” Biggs said.

Although it’s the norm, Biggs said that doesn’t mean it’s without debate. There are arguments for and against spending so much on sports.

“It’s really a question of how important do you think football is?” he said. “Because if you really do think football is important, then you’ve got to pay.”

Employees involved in athletics, however, weren’t the only ones making the big bucks in 2022.

University of Virginia President James Ryan was also among the top earners, with a salary of $851,681, according to state data. Stephen Edwards, CEO of the Virginia Port Authority, also took home more than $826,000 in salary, according to data the authority provided.

VCU Health employed another top earner: Michael Russos, the president of VCU Medical Center, earned a salary of $777,000. The earnings include salary only as VCU Health did not provide bonus data for employees.

Originally Published: October 4, 2023