This was originally published by WGRZ NBC Buffalo on August 28, 2010.
Extra Pay At Genesee County Economic Development Center Agency Questioned
An economic development agency in Genesee County is defending its extra compensation following an inquiry from Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, one of five Democrats running for attorney general.
Read the letter the Genesee County Economic Development Center sent to Assemblyman Brodsky
Extra pay for the top employees at the Genesee County Economic Development Center has grown from a combined $50,000 in 2005 to more than $91,000 in 2009, according to a letter from the agency obtained by Gannett’s Albany Bureau.
The extra pay awarded to the agency’s president and chief executive officer has increased steadily from $20,000 in 2005 to $60,000 in 2010. Agency CEO Steven Hyde earned $153,000 in base pay in 2009, making his total compensation $213,000 according to the state Authorities Budget Office. The agency, which has nine paid employees, spent $521,726 in total compensation last year.
Brodsky, the chairman the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, had sought the information from the agency in June.
In a letter sent to Brodsky and dated Aug. 10, agency Chairman John Andrews defends the extra pay, saying the compensation is based on a formula developed by the board of directors.
“These are not ‘bonuses’, but rather additional compensation based upon the formula adopted by the Board of Directors,” Andrews wrote in the letter. He added that no taxpayer money was used for the extra compensation.
The additional pay was given out, in part, because of the agency’s success in bringing new economic-development projects to Genesee County, Andrews wrote.
“The additional compensation practices that are in place have allowed this organization to retain a valuable leader that has taken economic development in Genesee County to a new level,” Andrews wrote.
Mark Masse, the center’s chief financial officer, said Andrews was not available for comment on Friday. The bonus formula was a decision of the board, Masse said.
Brodsky, a Greenburgh, Westchester County, Democrat is pushing economic-development agencies and authorities around the state to open up their books. An economic-development agency is a quasi-public body that is created to attract business and investment to an area.
By some estimates, there are nearly 900 public authorities and development agencies around the state, many of which operate with little oversight. The state Legislature passed a law last year that sought to rein in the entities. The measure created the Authorities Budget Office, which was been gathering compensation and pay records from the agencies.
Brodsky said the increase in bonus pay without a complete explanation of why it’s being doled out is troubling. “There’s got to be a showing that something was done above and beyond,” he said. “They don’t tell you what that was.”
He is also investigating extra pay at the Fulton County Economic Development Corporation and the Greene County Industrial Development Agency. “The pattern that’s emerging around the state is that leaders of economic development agencies are working above and beyond what their salary requires,” Brodsky said. “I think there’s clearly an ongoing problem and whatever the facts are in a particular area, the more and more I see this kind of stuff the more I’m convinced it’s inconsistent with the public interest.”
