(KTLA-TV) |
NEWPORT BEACH (KTLA) -- If you want to make some big bucks, lifeguarding might be the profession for you.
In Newport Beach, more than half of the city's 14 full-time lifeguards make over $100,000 a year, the Orange County Register reports, citing a city report on lifeguard pay for 2010.
Add on benefits, the Register says, and their total compensation is over $150,000.
The city's budget report shows that the highest-paid lifeguard battalion chief earned an annual salary of $119,000, and total compensation of $187,782.
With the addition of overtime and "night-time standby pay," the chief took home about $211,000.
Newport Beach's second highest-paid lifeguard collected over $203,000, the budget shows.
Most other lifeguards had salaries in the range of $60,000 to $100,000, plus benefits of about $42,000 to $62,000.
The lifeguards also get an annual allowance of $400 for "Sun Protection," the Register reports.
Brent Jacobsen, president of the Lifeguard Management Association, told the Register that he believes the salaries are "very fair and very reasonable with comparable positions and other cities up and down the coast."
Still, many people find the figures staggering, including the advocacy group Americans for Prosperity-California.
They're concerned about the pensions being paid to retired lifeguards, which they say compound the problem.
Lifeguards can retire with 90 percent of their salary after 30 years on the job, and at as early as 50 years old.
Americans for Prosperity-California posted a YouTube video mentioning one recently-retired lifeguard who, they claim, will get a government pension of $108,000 per year for the rest of his life.
They say lifeguards in Newport Beach are living "the lifestyle of the rich and famous."
But not all Newport Beach lifeguards are so highly compensated.
The city also hires about 210 seasonal and part-time lifeguards.
They make $16 to $22 an hour and receive no benefits.
In Newport Beach, more than half of the city's 14 full-time lifeguards make over $100,000 a year, the Orange County Register reports, citing a city report on lifeguard pay for 2010.
Add on benefits, the Register says, and their total compensation is over $150,000.
The city's budget report shows that the highest-paid lifeguard battalion chief earned an annual salary of $119,000, and total compensation of $187,782.
With the addition of overtime and "night-time standby pay," the chief took home about $211,000.
Newport Beach's second highest-paid lifeguard collected over $203,000, the budget shows.
Most other lifeguards had salaries in the range of $60,000 to $100,000, plus benefits of about $42,000 to $62,000.
The lifeguards also get an annual allowance of $400 for "Sun Protection," the Register reports.
Brent Jacobsen, president of the Lifeguard Management Association, told the Register that he believes the salaries are "very fair and very reasonable with comparable positions and other cities up and down the coast."
Still, many people find the figures staggering, including the advocacy group Americans for Prosperity-California.
They're concerned about the pensions being paid to retired lifeguards, which they say compound the problem.
Lifeguards can retire with 90 percent of their salary after 30 years on the job, and at as early as 50 years old.
Americans for Prosperity-California posted a YouTube video mentioning one recently-retired lifeguard who, they claim, will get a government pension of $108,000 per year for the rest of his life.
They say lifeguards in Newport Beach are living "the lifestyle of the rich and famous."
But not all Newport Beach lifeguards are so highly compensated.
The city also hires about 210 seasonal and part-time lifeguards.
They make $16 to $22 an hour and receive no benefits.
