Salary Scandal Draws Scrutiny

California  Controller John Chiang announced that he will begin requiring cities to report the salaries they pay employees and elected officials.

The new reporting requirement comes in the wake of the revelations that Bell, a city of about 40,000 in Los Angeles County, had been paying its city manager almost $800,000 a year, and paying four of its five City Council members almost $100,000 annually for their part-time duties.

The newly reported information is to be posted on the controller’s website, starting in November.

“The absence of transparency is a breeding ground for waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars,” Chiang said in a statement. “A single website with accessible information will make sure that excessive pay is no longer able to escape public scrutiny and accountability.”

Local governments are currently required to report summary revenue, expenditure, and payroll information to the controller.

The controller’s new rules require cities and counties to provide the salaries for each classification of elected official, such as mayor and supervisor, and public employees, such as city manager and county administrator.

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