Kate Thomas’ Paycheck vs. Washoe’s Wallet — A Budget Blunder

Here’s the latest: Washoe County just inked a two-year contract with County Manager Kate Thomas, paying her nearly $339K a year — only marginally lower than her predecessor, who earned $341K. And yes, that’s happening while the county is juggling a $27 million budget deficit.

To put this in perspective:

• National Average: According to Salary.com, most county managers in the U.S. make around $152,600/year. Salary.com

• Typical Range: Glassdoor shows a typical county manager’s salary falls between $130K and $240K, depending on location and experience. Glassdoor

• Even Other Counties Pay Less: On OpenGovPay, the national median for county managers is about $198,000. OpenGovPay

So in Washoe County, we’ve handed one of our top local executives a salary that’s well above the national average — and we did it while claiming we’re short twenty-seven million.

What are we even paying for?

Sure, being a county manager is a big job: balancing 24 departments, working with the Board of County Commissioners (no easy task), and running a billion-dollar budget (yes, billion with a B). But is this really the moment to pay near top-tier manager money while telling regular county residents that we’re tight on cash?

It’s a bit like hiring a five-star chef for a chili cook-off — and then telling everyone to bring their own beans.