Mississippi’s top 50 public officials now cost taxpayers more than $10 million a year. According to a new report, the state’s top 50 highest-paid officials’ salaries went up 5 percent from an average of $193,678 last year to $205,000 this year.
Published by the independent Mississippi Center for Public Policy, the 2023 Mississippi Fat Cat report shows that our state has some of the highest paid public officials in America.
“Mississippi’s state superintendent for public education has made over $300,000 per year for a number of years now,” said Douglas Carswell, president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. “Our report also shows that Mississippi now has two local school superintendents each earning about a quarter of a million dollars a year.”
Forty percent of those on the Fat Cat list are school superintendents, who enjoyed bumper pay rises. Those school superintendents on the Fat Cat list received an average pay increase of 14 percent, taking them to more than $200,000 a year.
The $10.3 million that’s spent on the state’s 50 highest-paid public officials would be enough to pay the salaries of:
• 189 nurses (at $54,284 per year)
• 178 state troopers (at $57,680 per year)
• 191 teachers (at $53,699 per year)
• 227 Mississippians receiving the median income ($45,180 per year)
Mississippi’s 50 Fat Cats are paid more than America’s 50 state governors. While the 50 Mississippi Fat Cats receive a combined total of $10.3 million a year, the combined salary of America’s 50 state governors is a mere $7.4 million.
Fat Cat pay does not necessarily reflect public service performance. Some of the highest-paid public officials preside over some of the worst education outcomes.
The Fat Cat report acknowledges that some highly-paid officials provide good value for money for the taxpayer and that high salaries in the public sector are not necessarily a bad thing.
However, the report also recommends changes to ensure that there is accountability when it comes to top public-sector pay. Suggestions include:
• Requiring a greater degree of oversight by the legislature when it comes to significant salary increases;
• Using a state-mandated formula to calculate the maximum allowable salary for school superintendents;
• Restricting the amount of education funding that can be spent on administration;
• Potentially amending Section 25-3-39 of the Mississippi Code to remove many of the exemptions to restrictions on unapproved limits.
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