Christie Among Highest-Paid Governors

PHILADELPHIA - We've talked a lot in recent weeks about wage concessions New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is demanding from unionized teachers in New Jersey.

The average salary for those teachers is just under $60,000 a year.

So, what about the paycheck of the man making the demands? Fox 29's Bruce Gordon did some digging and reported the numbers are a bit surprising, given the economic climate in the Garden State.

It turns out Christie is among the highest-paid governors in America, and he made clear he has no intention of giving any of those bucks back.

"Shared sacrifice" is a phrase you hear all the time when listening to Christie talk about his plan to balance the state budget, as in: "This plan requires sacrifice by all New Jerseyans, but it is a shared sacrifice."

Christie is the fourth-highest-paid governor. His $175,000-a-year salary places him behind only the governors of New York, Illinois and Michigan.

His paycheck is nearly $45,000 a year higher than the national average for governors.

So, Gordon asked Christie this week, "Have you considered taking a cut – even a symbolic, nominal amount – in your own salary?"

"You know, listen, that's mixing apples and oranges," Christie replied. "The fact of the matter is …"

"Does that send the right message, though?" Gordon followed up.

"Listen, that's mixing apples and oranges. It's of little or no consequence and, you know, what I'm saying is we will freeze my salary and all the other salaries here, which is all we've asked anybody else to do."

In fact, pay cuts have been voluntarily agreed to by administrators in 12 New Jersey school districts, by support staff in seven districts and by teachers in four districts.

Christie is paid only slightly more than the governors of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Of course, as he is quick to point out, the Garden State's economy is far worse than its neighbors'.

During his address to the state legislature, Christie said, "We have the worst unemployment in the region, and the highest taxes in America, and that is no coincidence."

And so, Gordon asked again, "You don't think a pay cut by you, of your salary, would send the right message in terms of leadership?"

"Listen, I've heard you ask it three times, and this is my answer: We are participating in the shared sacrifice by having everyone in the executive branch of government freeze their salaries, and they've been frozen, since 2006."

That's true, except that Christie was not governor in 2006, or '07 or '08 or '09. And so he has not been subject to a multi-year wage freeze.

He knew what the job paid when he walked in the door – $175,000 a year, fourth-highest in the nation – and he intends to collect every penny.

Also in terms of salaries, there are some new, eye-opening numbers out of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. And it's the kind of stuff that makes taxpayers pull their hair out, Gordon said.

The port authority's executive director makes more than $300,000 a year. The former executive director, former Cherry Hill Mayor Susan Bass Levin, makes $290,000.

For two different police sergeants – one making $264,000 a year, the other $207,000 – more than half the earnings are overtime. It makes you wonder about staffing at these places, Gordon said.

How do they justify these kinds of expenditures? In the case of the port authority, Gordon said the folks there will tell you it's all about staffing, that they have to work this kind overtime to cover the shifts that need to be covered. They're working long hours and not stealing money, and everyone has their own explanation for it, he said.

Christie argues that part of the shared sacrifice is they in Trenton they're not part of the pension plan in Trenton. That's actually prohibited by state law, not something they're doing out of the goodness of their hearts, Gordon said.

But outsiders can look at the numbers and say something ought to be done, Gordon reported.

On a side note, the U.S. Senate on Thursday took a first step in denying members of Congress their pay raises next year. They were set to get an automatic $1,600 raise.