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The Jacksonville Daily Record compared the city\u2019s top earners with employees in four other Northeast Florida counties and cities, including Tampa, Orlando, San Antonio and Charlotte. (Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/YJRJOMVDVVAXZPNY2LOZN34TGE.png\"\/)
The Jacksonville Daily Record compared the city\u2019s top earners with employees in four other Northeast Florida counties and cities, including Tampa, Orlando, San Antonio and Charlotte. (Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
But Jacksonville\u2019s government structure is different from the other cities included in the comparison.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville and Duval County have a consolidated government, meaning many employees have responsibilities that extend beyond what a typical city government handles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you make comparisons, you need to make sure it\u2019s apples to apples and oranges to oranges,\u201d said Rick Mullaney, executive director of the Haskell Public Policy Institute at Jacksonville University.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville is both a city and county government<\/p>\n
Mullaney said comparing Jacksonville employees directly with employees of cities such as Tampa and Orlando can be misleading because those cities operate within larger counties with separate county governments.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville, by contrast, consolidated its city and county governments in 1968.<\/p>\n
\u201cJacksonville is a consolidated government, meaning that many of our public officials really are county officials as well as city officials,\u201d Mullaney said.<\/p>\n
Tampa is one city within Hillsborough County, while Orlando is one of 13 municipalities in Orange County.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Duval County, the city of Jacksonville is both a county and a city because of consolidated government,\u201d Mullaney said. \u201cTo do a fair comparison you have to take into account the scope of the responsibilities as well as the people they serve.\u201d<\/p>\n
JEA, JaxPort, Jacksonville Aviation Authority also affect Jacksonville\u2019s numbers<\/p>\n
The Daily Record\u2019s list also includes executives of independent authorities, including Jacksonville\u2019s public utility and port.<\/p>\n
The top two earners in the Daily Record\u2019s Jacksonville analysis were JEA CEO Vickie Cavey, at about $721,000, and JaxPort CEO Eric Green, at about $566,000.<\/p>\n
Cavey resigned as JEA\u2019s CEO and managing director effective Sept. 25 after taking medical leave in July. <\/p>\n
Mullaney said independent authorities should be evaluated separately from traditional city employees because of differences in the size and scope of their operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a distinction between an independent authority, such as an airport authority, a seaport authority, or a public utility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
JEA is the largest municipal utility in Florida, according to Mullaney, making its top executive difficult to compare with a typical city employee.<\/p>\n
Tampa\u2019s port provides another comparison<\/p>\n
Tampa does have a public port authority that operates similarly to JaxPort.<\/p>\n
Port Tampa Bay CEO Paul Anderson\u2019s compensation package climbed above $1 million, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Anderson was reported as the highest-paid port CEO in Florida. <\/p>\n
Tampa Electric, meanwhile, is an investor-owned private utility rather than a government-run utility, so its CEO is not included in a comparison of government employees.<\/p>\n
That illustrates one of the challenges of comparing government compensation across cities.<\/p>\n
Why are public salaries increasing?<\/p>\n
Mullaney, who previously worked for the city of Jacksonville for 20 years, including 13 years as the city\u2019s general counsel, said rising public-sector compensation is not unique to Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
He said increases can reflect inflation, population growth and competition for workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of that is a response to inflation. Some of it is a response to population growth. And some of it a response of trying to be competitive in the marketplace for talent,\u201d Mullaney said.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville\u2019s highest-paid traditional city employees<\/p>\n
When independent authorities and certain professional positions are set aside, Jacksonville City Council attorney Jason Teal was among the city\u2019s highest-compensated employees, at roughly $290,000 annually, according to the analysis.<\/p>\n
He was followed by City Attorney Michael Fackler, Sheriff T.K. Waters and Mayor Donna Deegan.<\/p>\n
Mullaney said that distinction is important when interpreting the headline that Jacksonville has the highest-paid city employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo do a fair comparison, you need to make sure that you\u2019re comparing it to counties and cities with comparable size and responsibilities,\u201d Mullaney said. \u201cOtherwise it may be a little bit, potentially a little bit misleading.\u201d<\/p>\n