848 city employees made over $100K in 2013

There were 848 municipal employees making over $100,000 in Hamilton last year 30 more than in 2012.

The provinces so-called sunshine list, which details which Ontario public servants were paid more than $100,000 in the previous year, was released Friday afternoon. The 848 municipal employees listed include police, emergency and fire officials.

• READ MORE: Hamilton's top 10 public salary earners of 2013

Tops on the list was City Manager Chris Murray, who made $249,788.83 last year, alongside $13,338.46 in taxable benefits. Thats an over $16,000 increase from 2012.

Other top earners include:

• Associate Medical Officer of Health Hamidah Meghani at $248,893.28 with $3,016.40 in taxable benefits
• Medical Officer of Health Elizabeth Richardson at $240,253.14 with $3,308.87 in taxable benefits
• Police Chief Glenn De Caire at $228,519.20 with $12,060.81 in taxable benefits
• Fire Chief Rob Simmonds at 172,617.29 with $5593.18 in taxable benefits

Police officer Insp. David Doel made $134,530.24 alongside $1,191.49 in taxable benefits while suspended with pay for an internal investigation last year.

Doel abruptly announced his retirement in November, sixth months shy of receiving his full benefit package. He faced 14 counts of misconduct under the Police Services Act. That includes having sex while on the job, keeping pornography on his work computer and using video equipment and the national criminal database for his own personal use.

He had been suspended with pay for four years. Doel will officially retire on Monday. Chief Glenn De Caire from Hamilton Police Service said in a statement back in November that he has no choice or option but to accept Doels retirement.

The municipal list now includes many police constables, firefighters and paramedics. Some water distribution supervisors now make over $100 thousand, as do city solicitors. A city electrician made $105,246.49 in 2013, with $447.12 in taxable benefits.

The Ontario Sunshine List was brought in under the Mike Harris-led Progressive Conservative government in 1996. At the time, Harris said it served as an important check on the public payroll.

The Public Salary Disclosure Act requires organizations that receive public funding from the Province of Ontario to disclose annually the names, positions, salaries and total taxable benefits of employees paid $100,000 or more in a calendar year.

Each year the list gets longer there were 88,412 names on last year's list raising calls that the $100,000 benchmark should be raised. The list includes everyone from police, to school board administers, to hospital executives and municipal employees.

The act applies to organizations such as the Government of Ontario, Crown agencies, municipalities, hospitals, public health boards, school boards, universities, colleges, Hydro One, Ontario Power Generation, and other public sector employers who receive a significant level of funding from the provincial government.

Since then there have been calls to raise the $100,000 salary threshold.

The Sunshine List also lays bare the salaries of the province's top bureaucrats. The heads of large provincial bodies such as Ontario Power Generation and Ontario Hydro often top the list.