Georgia DOT head gets $100,000 raise
The State Transportation Board approved a $100,000 raise for Georgia’s top transportation official Thursday.
The 29% raise will bring Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry’s salary to $450,000. The unanimous vote came without comment from board members.
The raise also will boost McMurry’s pension. If he retires after 34 years with the state, his pension will likely top $300,000 a year.
In a statement last month, Chairman Rudy Bowen cited progress on road and bridge construction across the state. He also said it was important for McMurry to continue to lead GDOT with a new federal infrastructure package under consideration.
At Thursday’s board meeting, state Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, called McMurry “the best commissioner, I think, in the country.”
McMurry joined GDOT in 1990 and has led the agency since 2015. His last raise came in 2017, when the board increased his pay from $250,000 to $350,000.
He gained national acclaim in 2017 for his handling of the I-85 bridge fire and its reconstruction. Working around the clock with a contractor and using accelerated construction methods, GDOT was able to reopen the highway six weeks after it collapsed.
However, a federal investigation later found GDOT was partly to blame for the fire because it had stored high-density plastic conduit under the bridge for years — conduit set ablaze by a homeless man. GDOT changed its storage policies after the blaze.
Even at his new salary, McMurry would not crack the top 10 highest-paid public employees in Georgia. Last year the highest-paid employee was Georgia State University President Mark Becker, who earned $2.8 million, including a deferred compensation plan payment. Becker was one of three public university employees to earn more than $1 million in fiscal 2020, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found.
Among non-university employees, the top salary recipients include several employees of the Georgia Ports Authority, including Executive Director Griffith Lynch ($828,887).
About the Author
David Wickert writes about the state budget, finance and voting issues. Previously, he covered local government and politics in Gwinnett and Fulton counties. Before moving to Atlanta, he worked at newspapers in Illinois, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington.
