Who Were The Top 10 Highest-Paid State Employees In 2020?

The top 10 highest-paid state employees in 2020 all worked at the same place.

01/11/2021 11:37 a.m.

Massachusetts released its total payroll for 2020 and included the top earners - all of whom were men working for the University of Massachusetts system, according to Massachusetts' state payroll database.

The following is a list of the top 10 highest-paid state employees in Massachusetts, 2020. The compensation listed includes base pay, overtime, buyouts, and “other pay, which includes standby pay, shift differential, roll call pay, police detail, stipends, etc.

Chancellor and SVP of Health Sciences Michael Collins $1.11 million
Exec. Dep. Chancellor Provost and Dean Terrence Flotte $1.07 million (Flotte had the highest base payout of any of the top 10 earners. His base was $269,800.)
UMass Head Basketball Coach Matthew McCall $850,750 (McCall made the most out of the top 10 from “other pay;” it constituted more than $600,000 of his total earnings in 2020.)
Exec Vice Chancellor Innovation and Business Development James Glasheen $741,633
Men’s Ice Hockey Head Coach Normand Bazin $701,473
Exec Vice Chancellor, UMBL, Mark Klempner $650,739
Football Head Coach Walter Bell $618,683
Associate Dean of CNS Derek Lovley $596,112 (Lovely was the only one on the list to accept a buyout - he was paid $122,676.)
Department Chairman Kenneth Rock $585,399
UMass President Martin Meehan $584,749 (Meehan was the only one on the list not to receive any compensation outside of his base pay and perks.)

In 2020, the payroll for Massachusetts public state employees was $8.2 billion. Not all funds paid to employees came directly from taxes. Particularly in higher education, people are paid, in part, using grants, fees, interest, or trusts.

UMass Executive Vice Chancellor of Commonwealth Medicine Lisa Colombo was the highest-paid, public, state-employed female in 2020 - she earned $542,209 and was the 12th highest-earner statewide.

The highest-paid employee not working for the UMass system in 2020 was Chief Medical Examiner Mindy Hull. She earned $395,625 that year.

The state departments that received the most via Massachusetts' payroll were UMass ($1.44 billion), the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ($584 million), trial courts ($537 million), Department of Correction ($458 million), and the Department of State Police ($399 million).

For more information and to see a complete list of the Massachusetts state, public employee payroll, visit the database online at mass.gov.

Click here to follow Daily Voice Amherst and receive free news updates.