As far back as the 70s, one expert says, heads of first-responder agencies (think police and fire) have been the recipients of pension pay from a previous position even as they pull down even more in their current one. It makes for a nice figure! The Chron's Matier and Ross ran down the details of SF's new top cop, as well as Oakland's heads of fire and police, and found that each were getting a very nice second paycheck from the gigs they'd left behind.

San Francisco Police Department Chief Bill Scott
Sworn in just last week, Scott had devoted the last 27 years of his life to the LAPD. That's why, in addition to the $316,000 base salary he'll get to head the SFPD (reportedly the highest salary for a police chief anywhere in the country), Scott will receive a $152,000 annual pension from our pals down south.

Total: $468,000/year

It took Oakland seven months to find a head for its troubled department, and finally they convinced Kirkpatrick to join as its first female chief earlier this month. Though she came to us from Chicago, where she was the head of their Bureau of Professional Standards, Kirkpatrick has had a lengthy career in multiple police departments across Washington State and was most recently Spokane's top cop. That's why she's got a $87,420 annual pension payout to add to her base salary in Oakland of $270,000. (Up for in the air is an additional $55,000 in "special pay" that her predecessor in Oakland received, so we'll leave that out for now.)

Total: $357,420/year

Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed

The Ghost Ship Fire thrust Reed into the spotlight last month, as she was frequently on camera to explain the circumstances behind the deadly blaze. The first female big-city fire chief when Oakland named her as head of the department in March 2012, she had served in the San Jose Fire Department since 1986, ending her career there as Assistant Fire Chief. That's why San Jose continues to pay her a $127,000 annual pension, in addition to her yearly base pay in Oakland of $241,000.

Total: $368,000

Related: SFPD Salaries By The Numbers

As opposed to the calendar year that we all recognize as beginning on January 1, San Francisco's fiscal year begins anew on July 1 of every year. And though the revelry that one sees on December 31 is absent on June 30, some city employees had a lot to celebrate this year, as a record-topping number of them took home pay and benefits in the 2015-2016 fiscal year that topped $300,000.

Loyal SFist readers already know that $4.7 billion of San Francisco's $9.6 billion budget is devoted to city worker salaries and benefits. And now, with data on last fiscal year's city worker salaries now available on the Nevada Policy Research Institute's public employment compensation database, we learn that a "record number," per Matier and Ross, of San Francisco's city and county staffers made, with benefits and overtime, well over $300K.

But though overtime was often the reason a comparatively modest staffer's compensation might skyrocket, that's not always the case: See, for example, the city's best paid staffer William J. Coaker Jr., the chief investment officer for SF's retirement system. With a base pay of $507,831.60 and benefits of $125,891.73, he clocks in at a cool $633,723.33 per annum — almost $150K more than SF's second-highest grosser, Assistant Medical Examiner Ellen G. Moffatt , who between her $279,311.10 salary, $3,829.36 in OT, $114,433.58 in "other pay," and $72,446.93 in benefits pulled down $470,020.97 last year.

You can investigate all of SF's city worker salaries here, but here's a rundown of San Francisco's sizable $300K-plus club. Enjoy!

Previously: San Francisco's City Worker Salaries, By The Numbers