By La Voz Staff — Special Investigation

La Voz has obtained internal payroll documents from the City of Pasco revealing that management-level employees cost taxpayers over $6.53 million a year in base salary alone — a figure that does not include tens of thousands more per person in benefits, PERS retirement, medical, or vehicle allowances.

Among these figures, Pasco’s Top 5 administrators — including the City Manager, Deputy City Manager, Police Chief, Fire Chief, and Community & Economic Development Director — collectively earn well over $1 million per year before benefits.

This, while the city stares at a $10 million deficit.

For a city pleading poverty, these numbers are hard to justify.

 Top 3 Officials in City Manager’s Office Earn nearly $7000,000 — BEFORE Benefits! With benefits, incentives and retirement benefits, that number is well over $800,000 and closes in on $900,000 dollars.

City Manager Harold Stewart makes $254,999.68 per year

Deputy City Manager Richa Sigdel $212,347.20 per year

Assistant City Manager Angela Pashon $167,523.20

The spreadsheet obtained by La Voz shows how top heavy the City of Pasco is

• The City Manager alone earns over $250,000
• The Deputy City Manager is paid over $212,000
• Police and Fire Chiefs both approach or exceed $197,000 each
• The Community & Economic Development Director is nearly $190,000+

Total base salary for these Top 5 executives: over $1 million.

Total cost after benefits: likely $1.3–1.5 million.

All while the city warns residents of “hard choices,” “belt-tightening,” and “revenue shortfalls.”

 Capital Projects: Cost Overruns & Overcommitments

Beyond payroll, Pasco continues sinking money into:

• Multi-million-dollar capital projects
• Parks and road projects delayed and over budget
• A CIP portfolio that reads like a wish list, not a financial plan
• Projects financed by bonds the city is struggling to support
• Development slowed by rising construction costs

Pasco is spending like a booming metropolis — but collecting revenue like a working-class farm city.

This imbalance is now hitting the wall.

 Leo Perales Has Been Warning the Public — And Now the Numbers Prove Him Right

Councilmember Leo Perales has repeatedly flagged:

• Growing deficits
• Staff overbuilding budgets
• Reserves draining too quickly
• A potential utility tax increase
• Unsustainable spending patterns

He even described the proposed tax hike as a “soft no” until the city reins in spending.

And the city’s own payroll data backs up his concerns.

 Tax Hikes for the Public — But Raises, Benefits & High Salaries at the Top?

The city is talking about:

• Raising utility taxes
• Cutting programs
• Delaying street maintenance
• Reducing services
• “Restructuring” departments

Meanwhile, the most highly paid executives in City Hall continue to enjoy six-figure salary packages, elite benefits, and the security of PERS. According to Perales, the city staff was just given a 3 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) even as the city is in a deficit.

Pasco’s working-class Latino families — the backbone of this community — are being asked to pay more and get less.

 La Voz’s Position: If Pasco Wants to Fix Its Budget, It Must Start at the Top

Before telling residents to sacrifice, Pasco must:

• Reevaluate executive salaries
• Freeze upper-management raises
• Audit administrative spending
• Control capital project overruns
• Reduce benefit and allowance bloat
• Prioritize services, not bureaucracy

You cannot fix a $10 million deficit by cutting library hours or youth programs — while paying the Top 5 administrators over a million dollars a year before benefits.

 Final Word: Pasco Doesn’t Need Higher Taxes — It Needs Better Priorities

La Voz will continue monitoring:

• Payroll structures
• PERS cost impact
• Overruns on capital projects
• Internal spending practices
• Transparency failures

Pasco taxpayers deserve answers — not excuses, not spin, and not more tax hikes.

With over $6.53 million going to management salaries and more than $1 million to just the Top 5 administrators, one thing is clear:

Pasco doesn’t have a revenue crisis.

It has a leadership spending crisis.