How Much Employees In the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority Earn

The Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority has the 475th highest average employee salary among the 1,508 special districts listed in a new public pay study.

The state Controller's Office has put the 2011 salary and benefits information on a website. It details city, county and special district payrolls.

The average salary for special districts across California was $54,468 a year. The average salary for the Livermore Amador Valley transit district is listed at $36,003.

The district officially had 28 employees, but 11 of those were unpaid board members and alternates. The average salary for the agency's 17 paid employees was just under $60,000 a year.

Here's an overview of some of those numbers.

Here's the top 10 wage earners in the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority for 2011. The employees are listed by position only.

The salaries include regular pay, overtime, lump sums and other payments. The benefits and pension are what the district contributed to the employee's plan.

The agency was established in 1985. It's a joint powers agreement between Alameda County and the cities of Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore.

It oversees the Wheels transit program in the Tri-Valley. Passengers make about 2 million trips a year on Wheels vehicles.

The agency has 74 large buses and 15 smaller vans. It operates 16 regular routes and 15 school routes. One regional bus line comes through the area.

The agency contracts out for bus drivers and mechanics, so those salaries are not listed.

Paul Matsuoka, the agency's executive director, said a compensation study done last year showed the Livermore Amador Valley district's salaries were 16 percent below comparable agencies.

He added that in a small district like the LAVTA employees are expected handle a variety of tasks.

"There are so few of us that we have to cover a wide range," he said.