Nearly 200 lifeguards in Los Angeles County made more than $100,000 each in taxpayer money in the year 2012.
The lifeguards, 198 in total, received their inflated county salaries that year while California and its local governments are facing a fiscal crisis, according to the California Public Policy Center’s newly launched database TransparentCalifornia.com.
California state and local governments are currently looking at approximately $655 billion in unfunded pension and health-care liabilities.
More than 31,500 people in California collected more than $100,000 each in public pensions in 2012, according to the database. A retired Alameda County public defender received a $540,882 pension alone.
“These data give new meaning to the phrase ‘Golden State,'” said California Public Policy Center president Mark Bucher. “Amid civic bankruptcies in cities that can no longer pay for essential services, Californians can now see exactly where their tax dollars are going and how much current and former government employees are being paid.”