Eye-watering figures have revealed exactly how much top-earning executives at your local council took home last year - with one Merseyside official receiving just shy of £570,000.
The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) Town Hall Rich List has revealed some 43 council staff in our region taking home more than £100,000 per year, during the course of the 2017/18 financial year.
The highest Merseyside wage was paid in Wirral, where the Managing Director for Delivery took home £118,753 in salary, £93,413 in compensation and £357,223 in pension - totalling a huge £569,423.
The rarest and most valuable 2p coins and how much they are worth
According to the rich list, that's the second highest-earning council official in the entire country, after an interim chief executive in Slough, who earned just over £595,000.
A Wirral Council spokesman said the authority "did not recognise the figure", adding that a senior staff member had left the authority "with a combination of severance payment, cost to the council of pension contributions, and salary owed".
The authority with the largest number of officials earning over £100,000 was Knowsley - with 14.
John O'Connell, chief executive of the TPA, said the average council tax bill has "gone through the roof", but that authorities had responded through tax rises rather than scaling back "top pay".
How is council tax decided?
He added: "Despite many in the public sector facing a much-needed pay freeze to help bring the public finances under control, many town hall bosses are continuing to pocket huge remuneration packages, with staggering pay-outs for those leaving their jobs."
Lucky people in this Liverpool area could be GIVEN £50,000
Here are the staff earning over £100,000 at your local Merseyside council. The numbers include salary, expenses, bonuses, compensation for loss of office, employer pension contribution and other payments.
Knowsley
Mike Harden, Chief Executive: £211,718
Executive Director, Place: £143,802
Assistant Executive Director, Economic Growth: £143,776
Assistant Chief Executive: £139,380
Executive Director, Resources: £139,380
Executive Director, Children: £135,129
Assistant Executive Director, Policy and Partnership: £128,222
Assistant Executive Director, Public Health: £128,222
Assistant Executive Director, Neighbourhoods: £128,222
Assistant Executive Director, Customer and Employees: £128,222
Assistant Executive Director, Childrens Social Care: £118,099
Assistant Executive Director, Early Help: £118,099
Assistant Executive Director, Governance: £118,099
Assistant Executive Director, Adult Social Care: £118,099
Liverpool Council
Ged Fitzgerald, (former) Chief Executive: £238,804
Becky Hellard, Director of Finances and Resource: £204,832
Director of Regeneration and Employment: £171,893
Director of Community Services: £165,208
Assistant Chief Executive: £139,542
Interim Director of Adult Services and Health: £128,746
Director of Public Health: £121,923
City Solicitor: £106,381
Appeal after railway EXPLOSIVES snatched from car
Sefton Council
Chief Executive: £173,340
Director of Social Care and Health: £151,592
Executive Director: £138,967
Head of Locality Services - Commissioned: £101,490
Head of Locality Services - Provision: £101,482
Head of Children's Social Care: £101,461
Head of Regulation and Compliance: £101,447
Head of Corporate Resources: £101,416
St Helens
Mike Palin, Chief Executive: £163,000
Strategic Director of People's Services: £150,000
Deputy Chief Executive and Strategic Director of Corporate Services: £133,000
Strategic Director of Place Services: £131,000
Undisclosed job title: £127,500
Undisclosed job title: £117,500
Wirral Council
Managing Director for Delivery: £569,423 (£357,223 of this was in pension payments).
Eric Robinson, Chief Executive: £199,962.
Director for Strategy and Partnerships: £162,026
Director of Transformation: £137,871
Director for Care and Health: £130,021
Director for Business Services (Assistant Chief Executive): £128,860
Assistant Director of Finance: £108,526
What did the councils say?
A spokesman for Wirral Council said: "Details of all chief officer salaries at Wirral are readily available to the public online here."
He said the council "does not recognise" the "larger figure" in the TPA report, but added: "As a result of a restructure last year a senior member of staff left with a combination of severance payment, cost to the council of pension contributions, and salary owed which was approved by the Employment and Appointments Committee.”
Leader of the opposition Conservative group on Wirral Council, Cllr Ian Lewis, described the figures as "outrageous", calling for the authority to list all jobs, and full costs, as part of the council tax bill "so that everyone can decide for themselves whether such salaries are justified".
A spokesman for Liverpool Council said the information is published annually on its website.
He referred the ECHO to a statement made in 2010 put out by then-council leader Joe Anderson (who is now Mayor), when it axed 48 of the 74 senior managers' posts.
At the time, Mayor Anderson said: "We have been hit harder than every other city - despite having some of the most pressing needs in the country."
Knowsley, St Helens and Sefton Councils were all contacted for comment.
