Some News Messenger readers have noticed an increase in salaries of top city management in a seven-month period.

That’s not the case, though, according to the city of Lincoln’s public information officer Jill Thompson.

Salary discrepancies noted, as reported in February by The News Messenger, and as reported in August by the Sacramento Bee, were due to a difference in information requested, Thompson said Friday.

Thompson said The News Messenger’s salary figures were from the 2009-2010 fiscal year, and the Bee’s figures were from the 2009 calendar year. Both sets of figures are accurate, according to Thompson.

“What you got was the fiscal year 2009-2010 (salaries without benefits). That included the 12 months with the 4.62 percent furlough,” Thompson said. “What he (The Bee’s reporter) got was the half of the fiscal year before that, which did not include the portion of furloughs.”

The News Messenger reported the salaries of Lincoln’s city officials on Feb. 25, with City Manager Jim Estep making $205,162, Assistant City Manager Anna Jatczak at $138,578, former Police Chief Brian Vizzusi at $145,506, Fire Chief David Whitt at $135,360, and library director Darla Wegener at $101,098.

But in August, the Bee reported the city manager’s salary as $245,148, the director of public works as $183,315, director of community development at $182,732, the police chief at $163,052 and the fire operations chief at $154,067.

The Bee’s figures are listed on the “City of Lincoln: Calendar Year-2009” list of salaries as “total gross” salaries.

The “regular pay” given on the same list is $210,392 for Estep, $145,290 for Jatczak, $146,686 for the police chief, $138,538 for Whitt, and $103,548 for Wegener.

“What’s posted on the website is based on a public records act request from the (Sacramento) Bee,” Thompson said on Friday. “The Sac Bee requested salaries, and specifically asked for the calendar year.”

Thompson said the request was made July 23 and was provided Aug. 6.

“We had to create a report because we run on a fiscal year,” Thompson said. “What he (The Bee’s reporter) got was half of the fiscal year before that, which did not include the portions of furlough.”

Thompson said city employees agreed to a 4.62 percent furlough, which were included in the 2009-2010 city fiscal-year budget, and ended June 30, 2010.

City employees, with the exception of the classified group, agreed to concessions including no furlough days, no cost of living increases, no salary increases, and employees paying their share of their Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) retirement plans, according to previous News Messenger reports.

Debbie Lindh, the city’s human resources manager, provided The News Messenger with “an estimate of potential earnings for city employees this fiscal year,” which is for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Estep is making $223,499 this fiscal year, Jatczak is earning $145,290, Whitt is earning $141,811 and Wegener is earning $105,994, according to the “Full-time Employees Annualized Hourly Rate Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Estimate as of Aug. 30, 2010” provided by Lindh. These figures do not include benefits.

Thompson said on Tuesday that the annual gross base salary for Lincoln employees could be provided, “but to get the dollar amount in benefits for each employee, it would take some time.”

“To include all information showing certification pay, bi-lingual pay, insurance cash back, etc., would require us to create a report which does not currently exist, and you would need to file a Public Records Act request with our City Clerk to allow us the appropriate number of days to respond,” Thompson said.

The salaries for these department heads, with the exception of Estep, match what The News Messenger reported their salaries were prior to the furloughs agreed to by employees as part of the 2009-2010 city budget.

Estep’s regular pay is listed as $215,100 before furloughs in the Feb. 25 News Messenger (“What Lincoln city officials are making,” Page A12.)

“The 215,100 is a base salary. I have another $8,400 as redevelopment director,” Estep said.