The San Jose Mercury News recently launched a database reporting salary information for Bay Area public employees. This data has been available via written requests under the California Public Records Act since a unanimous 2007 California Supreme Court decision mandated public employee salary data was a public record, but this new online database makes the information readily accessible and searchable online. The database contains figures for salary and benefits paid in 2009 to city and county employees in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano counties who are employed by any of the following agencies:
- College districts
- Fire departments
- Health and medical centers
- School districts
- Transit districts
- Utility
Data is organized by employee name, job title, employer, base salary, paid overtime and "other" pay, which encompasses other expenditures allocated toward an employee's gross salary such as uniform and car allowances for public safety officers. The databases currently houses data for more than 200,000 employees across 109 Bay Area government agencies, and will be updated as additional agencies provide their salary data.