Most Southern state sector chief executives received a pay boost this year.
Yesterday, the State Services Commission released information on the remuneration of state services chief executives for the year ending June 30.
That list of chief executives of Crown entities and tertiary education institutions includes five southern organisations.
Those are: the Southern District Health Board, the University of Otago, Otago Polytechnic, Aoraki Polytechnic and the Southern Institute of Technology.
Top of the Southern list was the University of Otago, with the total remuneration band for vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne increasing $20,000 to $540,000-$549,999.
The SDHB remuneration band increased by $110,000, although that 2012-13 figure did not correctly calculate all benefits for chief executive Carole Heatly.
Otago Polytechnic chief executive Phil Ker's remuneration band increased $10,000 to $340,000-$349,000.
Remuneration for the Southern Institute of Technology remained static, while Aoraki Polytechnic decreased due to the appointment of a new chief executive part way through the year.
The highest-paid chief executive in the country's public service was Adrian Orr, of the Guardians of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, whose remuneration band was $800,000 to $809,999.
Next was University of Auckland vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon ($660,000 and $699,999).
However, the highest-paid public servant remains an unnamed ACC employee - understood to be investment manager Nicholas Bagnall - who got between $810,000 and $820,000.
State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie, who was one of the highest-paid public sector chief executives with a remuneration band between $610,000 and $619,999, said chief executive remuneration required a balance between attracting and retaining qualified and skilled staff while being prudent with public money.
In 2013-14, the total amount spent on remuneration and related employment costs for public service chief executives was $11.583 million, $500,000 less than the previous year.
That was the lowest expenditure on public service chief executives since 2007-08.
The average increase in base salary for public service chief executives was 2.8% in the 2013-14 year.
