State Government Payroll Declines

State records show the Ohio government payroll fell to less than 3 billion dollars in 2012 - a 3 percent drop from the previous year.Most of the top-paid non-university government employees were again professionals in the Ohio Department of Mental Health. A psychiatrist at a state hospital in Northfield made the most at more than 335-thousand dollars last year. He was the only state employee to top the 300-thousand dollar mark. Department spokesperson Trudy Sharp says the agency's medical expenses are high because it must maintain professional care 24 hours a day, seven days a week at all six psychiatric hospitals. Governor John Kasich made 148-thousand dollars last year.