State officials are trying to make sure taxpayers don't have their “Bell” rung by local government salaries after a scandal erupted last week in Southern California.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Californians are asking what their local government officials are paid after revelations the Southern California city of Bell paid three of its top administrators a total of $1.6 million a year.

And in Nevada County government, officials' earnings already are online at www.MyNevadaCounty.com, said CEO Rick Haffey.

“We are more than happy to post more, if that's what the public wants,” Haffey said. He sent a memo late Friday to county staff displaying salaries of top managers, and said the information would be “more prominently displayed on our home page next week.”

Schwarzenegger called on all local governments to do the same.

“If the city officials have nothing to hide, put the information on the website so people don't even have to call,” the governor said in a budget speech to the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Haffey called the salaries drawn by Bell's city manager, assistant city manager and police chief “corrupt and insane” in his weekly memo.

“We are making a concerted effort to remind residents of Nevada County the salaries for all county staff positions can continue to be found on our county website,” Haffey said in the memo.

Haffey's salary has seen large increases since county supervisors conducted a survey of top executive pay in counties of similar size: It has climbed to $168,000 annually from $137,000 in 2007.

Nevada City and Grass Valley post some salary information online, and officials from both cities said they would be open to posting more.

“The dollar amount in the (Bell) case is unrealistic and wrong,” said Grass Valley City Administrator Dan Holler.

‘A lot of questions'

Holler's $138,340.80 salary in a town of 13,000 pales in comparison to the now-resigned CEO of Bell, Robert Rizzo, who pulled down $787,637 annually in a city of about 40,000. That's nearly twice what President Barack Obama earns annually.

“It opened a lot of people's eyes and caused a lot of questions,” Holler said.

Salary information is already public record in California, but many cities and counties don't display the information online for the public to see easily.

That could change if the state Legislature moves ahead with proposals being drafted by the League of California Cities; Grass Valley is a member.

This week, the Los Angeles Times reported that residents of Bell, a city where 17 percent of residents live in poverty, have the second highest property tax bills among the 88 cities in Los Angeles County.

With the addition of special municipal assessments, residents of Bell pay bigger bills than Malibu and Beverly Hills.

The owner of a $400,000 Bell home pays a property tax bill of about $6,200 a year. Tax records show the owner of a $400,000 home in Malibu pays about $4,400 a year.

Four of the five members of the Bell City Council made about $100,000 before they cut their salaries earlier this week. Two of the four volunteered to serve without pay for the rest of their terms.

Local and statewide investigations have opened investigations into the pay of the officials.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. To contact Staff Writer Kyle Magin, e-mail kmagin@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4239.

Read more

For a list of salaries for Nevada County positions:

www.TheUnion.com/salaries

www.TheUnion.com/topsalaries