From Fox News: It’s not just the waves making a splash in Los Angeles this Fourth of July – lifeguards’ sky-high paychecks are turning heads, too.
According to a new report by fiscal watchdog group OpenTheBooks, at least one L.A. County lifeguard raked in more than half a million dollars last year. Meanwhile, 34 lifeguards brought in $300,000 or more during 2024, while 134 brought in at least $200,000 in base pay, overtime and other benefits.
Taxpayers in Los Angeles County are used to getting soaked, but it might be “unsettling” for some to hear how much lifeguards are being paid while the city still faces a shortage of firefighters and police, and struggles to extinguish wildfires or return violent crime to pre-pandemic levels, said OpenTheBooks CEO John Hart.
“Lifeguards who risk their lives protecting the public deserve to be well compensated, but paying them more than $500,000 may be unsettling to taxpayers who are drowning in debt,” Hart told Fox News Digital. “Once again, Los Angeles — a city that is struggling to extinguish fires and looting — is leading the way in lavish pay that needs to be addressed.”
In their investigative report, Open The Books revealed that during the past five years, one lifeguard managed to rake in a whopping $702,000, just in overtime pay alone.
Open The Books wrote:
We reported that in 2021, the top-paid lifeguards earned up to $510,283 — back then, we found 98 lifeguards earned at least $200,000 including benefits.
Now, out of over 1,500 lifeguards, 134 of them earned at least $200,000 including benefits. Thirty-four of them had $300,000 or more in their compensation package.
The highest paid in 2024 was lifeguard services chief Fernando Boiteux, who was given $523,351 in base pay, “other pay” and benefits.
The total payout just for the 134 top-paid lifeguards was over $70.8 million in 2024.
The report doesn’t give a total for all 1,500 lifeguards last year.
The highest-paid LA lifeguard made $523K in 2024 — part of a $70.8M payroll for just 134 employees.
📈 More numbers in our latest Substack: https://t.co/2N2DRJSNeZ#BaywatchPayWatch@johnhart333 @MatthewTyrmand @DOGE pic.twitter.com/F5EGALFHKi— Open the Books (@open_the_books) July 2, 2025
Over 5 years (FY2020–2024):
🏖️ LA’s top overtime-earning lifeguard was paid $702,968 in OVERTIME ALONE. More numbers at our Substack: https://t.co/2N2DRJSNeZ #BaywatchOnPayWatch@johnhart333 @MatthewTyrmand @DOGE pic.twitter.com/yMMBBEXtBE— Open the Books (@open_the_books) July 2, 2025
WATCH the Fox News clip below:
Big thanks to @EmilyCompagno for highlighting our findings on LA lifeguards making big bucks!💰
Taxpayer dollars, 6-figure overtime & $500K paydays ➡️ full breakdown at our Substack: https://t.co/2N2DRJSNeZ@FoxNews @OutnumberedFNC @johnhart333 @MatthewTyrmand @DOGE pic.twitter.com/bo8WzGSoKA— Open the Books (@open_the_books) July 3, 2025
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