St. Joe-Benton Harbor News

Ellen Karafa made $50,325 in 2018 working as a public employee in Berrien County, placing the worker in the 65th percentile of pay for Michigan public employees.

Ellen Karafa works for Berrien Springs Public Schools. The highest paid public employee in Berrien County is Kevin Ivers who works for Berrien Regional Education Service Agency.

The data was gathered by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a nonprofit research and educational institute.

Top 100 highest paid public employees of Berrien County in 2018

Rank	Employee Name	Employer	Amount Earned
1	Kevin Ivers	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$179,649
2	Philip Freeman	Lakeshore Public Schools	$163,300
3	Eric Hoppstock	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$145,114
4	David Eichberg	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$140,454
5	Shelly Mills-Walker	Benton Harbor Area Schools	$139,846
6	Ann Cardon	St. Joseph Public Schools	$138,257
7	Daniel Applegate	Niles Public Schools	$135,875
8	Jeffrey Leslie	New Buffalo Area Schools	$132,025
9	Patricia Robinson	Benton Harbor Area Schools	$126,819
10	Kevin Schooley	Watervliet Public Schools	$126,432
11	Julie Powell	Lakeshore Public Schools	$121,360
12	Peter Bush	Coloma Community Schools	$120,360
13	Kevin Kreitner	Lake Michigan College	$120,257
14	Timothy Donahue	Buchanan Community Schools	$120,000
15	Shane Peters	Bridgman Public Schools	$115,284
16	Kathleen Hamilton	St. Joseph Public Schools	$115,215
17	William Kearney	River Valley School District	$115,158
18	Franklin Sebastian	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$112,500
19	Lynda Hurlow	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$112,200
20	Karen Weimer	Brandywine Public Schools	$110,750
21	Michelle Allen	St. Joseph Public Schools	$108,429
22	Ryan Pesce	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$107,161
23	Jason Messenger	Lakeshore Public Schools	$106,900
24	Brian Barber	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$106,593
25	Bradley Brunner	Lakeshore Public Schools	$106,525
26	Robert Kubiak	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$105,029
27	David Ehlers	Coloma Community Schools	$104,731
28	Cynthia Ursprung	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$103,530
29	Lisa Augustyniak	Lake Michigan College	$103,417
30	Tracy Althouse	Lakeshore Public Schools	$103,330
31	C. Kevin Clark	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$103,237
32	Denise Scameheorn	Lake Michigan College	$103,206
33	Karla Hurlbutt	Buchanan Community Schools	$102,864
34	Lori Kuntz	Lakeshore Public Schools	$102,261
35	Craig Kuhn	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$101,252
36	Shari Lidgard-Pullins	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$101,040
37	Marla Clark	Lake Michigan College	$100,365
38	Samuel Stine	Bridgman Public Schools	$100,111
39	Christopher Machiniak	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$99,960
39	Kerenda Applebey	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$99,960
41	Kelly Gaideski	St. Joseph Public Schools	$99,729
42	Craig Hubble	St. Joseph Public Schools	$98,799
42	Kevin Guzzo	St. Joseph Public Schools	$98,799
44	Tina Lawson	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$98,744
44	Robert Haskins	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$98,744
44	Craig Blasko	Berrien Regional Education Service Agency	$98,744
47	Gary Roberts	Lake Michigan College	$98,423
48	Gerry Cox	Lake Michigan College	$98,280
49	Charles Butler Jr.	New Buffalo Area Schools	$98,050
50	Kenneth Dietz	Watervliet Public Schools	$97,210
51	Brandon Waggoner	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$96,900
52	Steven Karsten	Lake Michigan College	$96,881
53	Donna Roark	Niles Public Schools	$96,700
54	Michelle Stone	Lake Michigan College	$96,581
55	Gregory Blomgren	St. Joseph Public Schools	$96,296
56	Daniel Bartz	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$96,031
57	Janice Zerfas	Lake Michigan College	$95,999
58	Mark Kurland	Buchanan Community Schools	$95,998
59	David Armstrong	Watervliet Public Schools	$95,651
60	Darla Campbell	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$95,509
61	Dana Jenkins	Lake Michigan College	$95,329
62	Chad Mandarino	St. Joseph Public Schools	$95,263
63	Carol Grandholm	New Buffalo Area Schools	$94,814
64	Kimberly Sherman	Lake Michigan College	$94,521
65	David Kelly	New Buffalo Area Schools	$94,245
66	Patrick Weckel	Brandywine Public Schools	$93,940
67	Gregory Younger	Lakeshore Public Schools	$93,540
68	Molly Brawley	Niles Public Schools	$93,500
69	Nicholas White	Lakeshore Public Schools	$93,178
70	Darla England	Coloma Community Schools	$93,120
71	Gregg Schaffer	St. Joseph Public Schools	$93,102
72	Kristen Bawks	St. Joseph Public Schools	$92,838
73	Patrick Breen	River Valley School District	$92,085
74	Rebecca Hartley	New Buffalo Area Schools	$91,936
75	Robin Hadrick	Niles Public Schools	$91,500
76	William Tiefenbach	Watervliet Public Schools	$91,220
77	Brian Brown	River Valley School District	$91,210
78	Ellen Hasse	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$91,168
79	Jerald Holtgren	Niles Public Schools	$90,800
80	Shelley Hennen	Lake Michigan College	$90,757
81	Kristen Pennington	Lakeshore Public Schools	$90,615
81	Natalie MacErata	Lakeshore Public Schools	$90,615
83	Tricia Lowery	Buchanan Community Schools	$90,384
84	Thomas Skarbek	Niles Public Schools	$90,300
85	Alan Alsbro	Berrien Springs Public Schools	$90,232
86	Diana Chase	New Buffalo Area Schools	$90,181
87	Christopher Quartermaine	Lakeshore Public Schools	$88,838
88	Carole Fetke	Watervliet Public Schools	$88,660
89	Ryan Walters	St. Joseph Public Schools	$88,288
90	Janine Harrison	Lakeshore Public Schools	$88,254
91	Patricia Newton	New Buffalo Area Schools	$87,868
92	Heidi Clark	River Valley School District	$87,818
93	Jeffrey Yauchstetter	Lakeshore Public Schools	$87,788
94	James Wiseley	River Valley School District	$87,706
95	Bryan Parsons	St. Joseph Public Schools	$87,630
96	Edward Lijewski	New Buffalo Area Schools	$87,554
97	Stacey Demaio	Buchanan Community Schools	$87,418
98	Stacey Steffes	Lakeshore Public Schools	$87,413
99	James Berry	St. Joseph Public Schools	$87,238
100	Ann Marie Shell	Eau Claire Public Schools	$87,000