Their employers usually pay their Medicare taxes and all their retirement contributions. In one case, the employer pays for time to earn income elsewhere. In another case, the employer pays the individual's income tax.
Not counting those benefits and traditional ones, they'll earn $1,987,809.50 this year.
They are Trumbull County's 22 school superintendents, a group that the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber wants to reduce to one with some assistants.
Superintendents Kathryn Hellweg of Warren, Delmas "Wayne" McClain of the Trumbull Career and Technical Center, John Sheets of Howland and Victoria Giovangnoli of the Trumbull County Educational Service Center are the top-earning superintendents in Trumbull County with annual salaries of more than $100,000 each.
Some superintendents compare their jobs to chief executive officers of private and public companies, because they are in charge of personnel, budgets and are responsible for production. But that comparison wasn't always consistent.
''There is no comparison between the salaries of CEOs of private companies to those of superintendents,'' Giovangnoli said. "We make much less."
Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber President Thomas Humphries said the average CEO in the Mahoning Valley earns approximately $139,000 per year. He said the full range of salaries extends from about $80,000 to beyond $200,000.
Eight of Trumbull County's school superintendents earn more than $90,000 a year and six earn more than $80,000 a year. One superintendent, Lewis Strohm of the Bloomfield-Mespo School district, earns less than $50,000 a year, but he is part-time.
On average, the 22 Trumbull County superintendents earn $90,355 a year.
The Tribune Chronicle examination of superintendent salaries does not include medical benefits, which are included in all school district employee contracts. Nor does it include retired/rehired superintendents - such as Champion's Pamela Hood - whose annual salaries approach $200,000 because they are earning both retirement incomes and working salaries.
Sheets, who earns $101,594 plus a $6,000 annuity every year, said his salary and benefits are not out of line with other superintendents of school districts with approximately 3,000 students and more than 375 employees.
''Howland is one of the largest employers in the area,'' said Sheets, whose district earned the highest ranking - excellent with distinction - on the state report card. "It is an economic engine. We have one of the largest transportation systems and one of the largest food service operations. As superintendent, I'm in charge of all of those things."
THE PERKS
The majority of Trumbull's superintendents have agreements with their boards that the district will pay the employee's 10 percent contribution to the State Teachers Retirement System. The districts also pay the employer's 14 percent share.
Depending on the contract, these provisions may save each superintendent $10,000 to $15,000 a year. In addition, when the superintendents retire, the STRS provision will be counted as part of their compensation, allowing them greater retirement earnings.
Several superintendents also have life insurance policies of more than $100,000 paid by their districts, cell phones or cell phone allowances, and are provided several hundred dollars a month to compensate them for travel.
Hellweg's contract provides her with 15 days in which she can work elsewhere as a consultant or speaker for pay. If she doesn't use those days, the district pays her a per diem rate on top of her salary.
The Girard City School District pays the employee's portion of income tax for its superintendent, Joseph Jeswald.
Former Girard School Board President Philip Fisher, who signed the contract, acknowledged the board agreed to pay the FICA, but said he did not remember the reason why.
No other member of that board could be reached for comment.
SUPERINTENDENTS: 'QUITE A BARGAIN'
Hellweg said her compensation is a bargain for taxpayers.
"I am essentially the CEO of a company that has an overall $100 million budget," she said. "I am responsible for 5,600 students and in charge of more than 800 staff members. If you look at the salaries of superintendents across the state and the CEOs of companies dealing with this number of employees as well as this kind of budget, basically the Warren city schools are getting quite a bit for their investment."
TCTC's McClain, who earns $109,711.48 annually, oversees 1,088 high school and 3,000 adult students as well as 152 full-time and 350 part-time employees. He is in charge of an $18.3 million budget.
McClain said he does not earn an extreme amount.
"Based on my education, experience and the number of hours and work days I put in over a year's time, I probably make less (per hour) than the average teacher," said McClain, who oversaw a $6.4 million, 44,000-square-foot adult center construction project.
"Teachers are paid for working seven hours a day, 185 days a year. On average, I work 10 hours a day on a 260-day year."
With a base salary of $102,000, the TCESC's Giovangnoli supervises the organization that provides special education, employee testing, and student hearing tests, manages district insurance policies, sends specialized instructors and aides to individual districts, and provides other services for districts too small to cost-effectively handle internally. The TCESC has 247 full-time employees, approximately 30 part-time workers and a $42 million annual budget.
Giovangnoli said superintendent and principal salaries are not that much out of line from the per diem rate of what veteran teachers earn.
"We work more days and have a lot more responsibilities," she said.
Giovangnoli said the salaries of Trumbull County superintendents are lower than those of superintendents in nearby counties, such as Geauga, Lake, Cuyahoga and Portage.
A Tribune Chronicle survey of nine school districts in Geauga and Portage shows that the average superintendent there earns $104,585.89.
CEO COMPARISON
While comparing responsibilities of CEOs and superintendents is fair in some areas - managing people, buildings and inventories, for example - Humphries suggests it is not entirely accurate. Private sector CEOs must earn money for their organizations while school district budgets are subsidized by taxpayers, he said.
''Even the CEOs of non-profits must go out and raise the amount of money they need to operate each year,'' Humphries said. "I've only seen a few districts - all outside of this area - in which a superintendent's job is based on student test results.
"YSU President David Sweet's job, for example, is based on the number of students he can attract to the university, the amount of capital he can raise, and increasing the prestige of the school," Humphries said.
He added that he can see a superintendent earning more than $200,000 a year if it were one or two for the entire county and there are improving academic ratings.
Hellweg and Sheets are in districts that, according to their five-year financial forecasts, may be facing significant debt in the next two to three years.
While Sheets has one of the top performing districts based on Ohio Report Card scores, he is concerned with the district falling into a $1.4 million debt in 2012.
"Howland is not flushed with cash," Sheets said. ''We constantly have to keep a watch on how we manage our funds and keep watching out expenditures. We can't hire new staff or offer new programs without knowing where we are getting the money to do the work."
The district faces making cuts, increasing taxes or both.
Hellweg, whose base salary is $116,696, oversees a district that faces a nearly $10 million deficit by 2013 and is one of the six worst rated districts in the state, according to Ohio's school report card.
Warren school board member Robert Faulkner said Hellweg is worth her compensation package because the board wanted a superintendent strong in academics, school construction and improving test scores. Warren began building all new schools during Hellweg's administration.
Giovangnoli said she understands how people may believe a six-figure income is a lot.
"It is a lot, but we have a lot of responsibilities," she said.