The $100,000 Club at Livermore City Hall

About one in four city employees in Livermore earned more than $100,000 in salary last year, according to an annual report.

The survey of public employee salaries by the Bay Area News Group shows 164 of Livermore's 599 municipal employees received a six-figure salary in 2010.

The bulk of those employees work in the city's and earned tens of thousands of dollars in overtime and other extra compensation.

The top pay went to City Manager Linda Barton, who had a base salary of $225,427. She took in an extra $51,000 last year, mainly by cashing in unused vacation time, to bring her total salary to $276,435. With medical, pension and other benefits, Barton's compensation package came to $350,999 last year.

Next was Police Chief Steve Sweeney, who had a base salary of $184,658 and a gross salary of $204,106. His total compensation with benefits was $292,723.

City Attorney John Pomidor's base salary was $195,363 and total salary was $198,223. His total compensation was $267,730.

Barton said Livermore salaries are in line with cities of about 80,000 residents. She also noted city employees have not had a pay raise in three years. She said it's important to pay municipal employees a fair wage.

"These people are highly skilled, talented individuals," she said.

Dozens of police officers also were high on the salary list.

The highest was police Sgt. John Hurd, who boosted his base salary of $107,601 with $77,730 in "other" compensation, which is listed as other cash payments, including overtime.

Sgt. Joshua Ratcliffe increased his base salary of $107,601 with $62,881 in extra compensation.

Police officer Kevin Utpadel earned $65,286 in other compensation on top of his base salary of $86,518.

Police officer Gregory Fuller took in $70,937 in extra compensation on top of his base salary of $86,518.

Barton said the overtime and other costs are necessary because there are 20 vacant positions in the Police Department due to injuries and people leaving the force.

"That has a big impact on the department," she said. "When something happens, people need to step in. People expect to see a police officer there when something happens."

In the , which is separate from the city, there were three employees who earned more than $100,000 last year.

Timothy Barry, the district's general manager, took in $147,827 in total salary in 2010 with a total compensation package of $200,193.

Assistant General Manager John Lawrence earned $107,904 last year with $137,745 in total compensation.

, a former senior park supervisor who retired from the district in December, took in $102,614 in salary and $140,171 in total compensation.

The district has 465 employees. Of those, 61 are full time while 35 are part time with benefits. The rest are temporary part-time employees without benefits.

Barry said the pay for district employees is similar to that of those who work for other agencies of a like size. He said there is a good deal of expertise and experience among the workers.

"We provide a good value for the taxpayers," he said.

The district's budget this year was $16.7 million. Half of its revenue comes from property tax while the other half is fees and charges for classes and other services.

The district has laid off four full-time employees and two part-time workers in the past year.