Top public officials in Capital Region make well over $100K a year

It’s no secret that the top public officials make good money.

The top dogs in Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady and Rensselaer counties all make well over $100,000.

13 Investigates looked at the salaries of Dan McCoy, Steve McLaughlin, Rory Fluman and Steve Bulger.

Their annual earnings were a curiosity that sparked the 13 Investigates team to research after Rensselaer County Executive McLaughlin recently received a $20,000, just weeks after his arrest and indictment for stealing campaign funds.

13 Investigates looked at their salaries starting from 2019, just before the COVID pandemic hit.

McLaughlin’s salary from 2019 through 2021 was the same: $121,300. With his big pay bump, it’s now $142,000.

As for Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, he made $141,320 in 2019. Then McCoy received over $11,000 pay raise in 2020, upgrading his annual salary to $152,626. It’s steadily increased since then. In 2021, it was $155,679 and this year, it’s $158,793.

Saratoga County Administrator Steve Bulger is still fairly new to this position. He started in January 2021. His starting pay was $156,064. Now it’s increased by about $3,000. Bulger currently makes $159,185.

However, the Schenectady County Manager, Rory Fluman currently makes the most out of the four. Fluman was first appointed to the position in 2019. He currently makes $179,340.

In 2019, his salary was $163,681. In 2020, $163,681 and in 2021, it was $171,955.

Their Responsibilities:

The role and responsibilities for each of these officials are very similar. Each one oversees the day-to-day operations in their respective counties. Here are some of their other duties:

McLaughlin: responsible for final approval of legislative action by approval or veto of all legislation about county operations. McLaughlin also serves as the budget officer.

Bulger: supervises the appointed department heads, serving as the county’s budget officer and holding up county policies, and providing staff support to the Board of Supervisors.

McCoy: his office directs, coordinates, and monitors all the Albany County administrative units. McCoy is also in charge of the county budget and appoints administrative heads of departments. As well as approving and executing contracts and agreements for the county.

Fluman: his office coordinates operations of county government. He manages their $300 million annual budget and coordinates with their 30 departments and officers of county government. Fluman appoints non-elected department heads, who need to be confirmed by the Legislature.

Population Size

To put things in perspective, 13 Investigates also looked at the population sizes for each of these four counties.

This data comes from the 2020 Census Bureau.

Albany County:

– 314,484 population

– 522.7 square miles of land area

– 3 cities, 9 towns, 6 villages

Saratoga County:

– 235,509 population

– 809.8 square miles of land area

– 2 cities, 19 towns, 9 villages

Rensselaer County:

– 161,130 population

– 652.3 square miles of land area

– 2 cities, 14 towns, 6 villages

Schenectady County:

– 158,061 population

– 204.5 square miles of land area

– 1 city, 5 towns, 2 villages