LANSING – Most of Governor Rick Snyder’s top leaders and advisors will be paid more than their counterparts under former Governor Jennifer Granholm, according to salary data released Friday by the administration. And the pay rates, particularly the raises, could become issues in state employee contract negotiations later this summer.

The top paid people in the cabinet are Mike Finney, CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and John Nixon, budget director and director of the Department of Technology, Management and Budget, who each will earn $250,000. The top paid person in the Executive Office is Chief of Staff Dennis Muchmore at $171,000.

The MEDC director’s salary is not, however, set by the governor. The agency’s board sets the compensation and the funds come from the economic development revenues, not from the general fund.

The top paid director under Granholm was Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan at $183,995, but he is hired by the Board of Education (and the board did not increase his pay this fiscal year). Granholm’s top-paid appointee was MEDC CEO Greg Main, at $200,000, and her top director was Treasurer Robert Kleine, at $174,204.

In her own office, as of December 17, the highest-paid person was Legal Counsel Steven Liedel at $135,636. Her last chief of staff (technically chief operating officer) was Dan Krichbaum, who became director of the Department of Civil Rights in March 2010 while still holding his Executive Office post for a few months.

Krichbaum is now the lowest-paid among the department directors at $136,000, but he is hired by the Civil Rights Commission, not the governor.

Krichbaum’s salary held steady, as did the salary, compared to their predecessors, for Community Health Director Olga Dazzo ($145,000), Corrections Director Dick McKeon ($145,000), State Police Director Kriste Etue ($145,000) and Treasurer Andy Dillon ($174,204).

Former Justice Maura Corrigan, who will head the Department of Human Services, will, at $140,000, see a pay cut compared to what her predecessor, Ismael Ahmed, made ($150,000).

Snyder not only retained Transportation Director Kirk Steudle in the post to which Granholm appointed him, but he gave him a $5,000 raise to $145,000. Dan Wyant, who heads the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and will head the Department of Environmental Quality, saw the same raise from what DNRE Director Becky Humphries had made.

Rodney Stokes, who will head the new Department of Natural Resources, was not listed because he is still a deputy in the DNRE until the new department becomes effective.

Keith Creigh, the new Department of Agriculture director, will see a $5,000 increase over what Don Koivisto made, but that takes him only to $140,000.

Military and Veterans Affairs Director Greg Vadnais will see his salary increase to $165,053 from $162,775 for Thomas Cutler, but that amount is set by the federal government.

The Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth does not technically have a director yet, so a salary has not been set.

Within the Executive Office, Snyder has shown some substantial increases for his top staff over what Granholm paid her top staff, but he also has a number of posts filled that Granholm did not in December as the administration was winding down.

In addition to Muchmore, the Executive Office includes senior advisor Dick Posthumus ($170,000); deputy chief of staff Jeff Barnes ($145,000); communications director Geralyn Lasher, strategy director Bill Rustem, external relations director Terri Reid, legal counsel Mike Gadola, and Washington, D.C. office director Bill McBride (all at $140,000); office manager Allison Scott ($120,000); and administration director Marsha Quebbeman ($100,000).

Granholm listed only eight key staff in her final month. In addition to Liedel, she had special advisor Mary Zatina ($120,000); cabinet secretary Nathaniel Lake ($115,000); press secretary Liz Boyd, public affairs director Kimberly Trent and lieutenant governor’s chief of staff Leslee Fritz (all at $110,000); legislative affairs director Tim Hughes ($103,800); and special assistant Lawrence Tokarski ($99,632).

The increases, where they were offered, were designed to get the right person in the job, Lasher said.

“We are in a serious crisis in this state and Governor Snyder made it clear he was looking to build a team of the best people to reinvent this state,” Lasher said. “Governor Snyder has hired some of the best people in this business – many coming in from the private sector.”

She noted that Nixon is serving as director of two agencies, the DTMB and the Budget Office, but is being paid less than the combined amount Granholm paid the two people who held those posts under her administration ($135,252 for Budget Director Bob Emerson and $145,000 for DTMB Director Ken Theis).

But state employee unions expect to take that same argument to the bargaining table should the administration seek concessions, as expected.

“What it says is you need to have qualified and competent people in state service,” said Ray Holman, spokesperson for UAW Local 6000, of the pay for Snyder’s top staff. “State employees across the board should be fairly compensated. If not, it’s going to end up costing the state.”

Progress Michigan went a step further, arguing Snyder and his directors should set the example and take pay cuts.

“Rick Snyder is a multi-millionaire CEO who can easily afford to forgo his taxpayer-funded state salary. He should set an example for the state and refuse a salary while Michigan’s families are still struggling,” said David Holtz, Progress Michigan executive director.

And he particularly singled out Nixon in calling for cuts to the directors. “There certainly shouldn’t be a huge salary increase for the state budget director position at a time when he is likely figuring out how to cut wages and benefits for the people outside his executive office who are answering the phones and cleaning the bathrooms. That’s just wrong,” he said.

The State Officers Compensation Commission sets the pay of the governor, but Snyder has not said how much of a pay cut he intends to take.

Republican legislators, who also have called for concessions, were not concerned the executive pay scale would cause difficulties for negotiating those cuts.

“I guess I’d have to compare that to what the responsibilities are,” said Rep. Chuck Moss (R-Birmingham) of the director’s salaries. “I know at Oakland County sometimes we had to increase compensation to get good people.”

And he noted state employees did receive raises last year while legislators took a 10 percent cut. “I haven’t seen the state employees be any more happy about stepping back when we took a 10 percent pay cut,” he said. “We’ve been taking cuts and benefit cuts for two years.”

Sen. Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw Twp.), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, argued the salaries the governor was paying was a deal considering the people. “I don’t know how he got Nixon so darn cheap when he’s going to have to fix a $2 billion budget (deficit),” he said. “I used to make half a million a year to tell people with heart attacks to take aspirin.”

Lasher said the issue for the governor on state employee concessions was not salary but total compensation. She noted the new executives would have to pay more for their benefits than most current employees, for instance.

And she said Snyder would be looking for adjustments not only at the state level, but also among local governments, where she noted some employees still have health insurance with no co-pays.

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