To search the database, use the pull-down menu under entities to find a particular governmental agency, such as BART, or the city of Walnut Creek. Clicking on Submit will then provide all the employees working for that entity. The data will then display in descending order of total pay. To sort the data by subtotals, click on any of column heads.

Entities can be searched by job title by first choosing an entity and then using the drop-down menu to choose a department and job title, then click Submit.

If no information is entered into any of the search fields, the data base will display by total pay in descending all the employees of all entities in the data base.

This data represents pay received in calendar year 2008. Bay Area News Group compiled the data, which it obtained through California Public Records Act requests. In some cases, negative numbers appear in the data, which reflects situations in which employees owed money, for example, if overtime was retroactively disallowed. The "Other" column represents all taxable pay that isn't base or overtime, such as performance bonuses, uniform allowances and extra pay for educational achievements.

* San Ramon provided statutory base pay rather than actual amount paid, meaning in some instances the columns do not add up to the total.

** Newark's base pay also includes money for employees to use to purchase benefits.

See something you want to bring to a reporter's attention? E-mail us at salarytips@bayareanewsgroup.com .