This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The five highest-compensated Utah Transit Authority employees received a total of $1.6 million in salary and benefits in 2012.
That's enough to pay for more than 316,000 round-trip TRAX tickets.
At the top of the list, UTA's past CEO John Inglish received a total of $365,762.80 in salary, benefits and bonuses. Inglish, the UTA's former general manager, was given the advisory CEO post prior to his retirement in 2012.
Data UTA provided to the state transparency website showed that Inglish's base salary was $105,466.37, the lowest salary of the five executives.
Michael Allegra, UTA's current general manager, had the second-highest total compensation package at $332,604.29. His base salary of $185,758.73 was also the second highest, coming in behind Bruce Jones, UTA's general counsel, who was paid $194,743.34.
Jones' total compensation package of $312,793.60 was the fourth-highest at the UTA. Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Montague was third highest, at $329,615.61.
Chief Operating Officer Jerry Benson had the lowest compensation package of the five, at $241,414.32. His salary alone, at $144,404.53, was the third highest of the five base salaries.
By comparison, the UTA employee with lowest gross compensation was an unnamed rail-service employee who reportedly received $2.
UTA officials recently asked the state to increase the agency's share of the sales tax to finance future expansion. It also recently cut pay for part-time bus drivers.
The data were compiled by UtahsRight.com for a weekly series in The Salt Lake Tribune highlighting information gleaned from public databases.
UtahsRight.com, the data website for The Salt Lake Tribune, conducts an ongoing statewide quest for district court information and other public information, including salaries of public employees and restaurant inspections, using public records requests made under the state's Government Records Access and Management Act, commonly known as GRAMA.
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