Four people in the Kansas City Police Department made more money than former Police Chief Darryl Forté last year, according to records provided by the department through a sunshine request.

Forté, who resigned in May, was paid $189,619 in gross wages last fiscal year. But Maj. Eric Winebrenner, Shoal Creek division office; Deputy Chief Randall Hundley, administration bureau; Maj. John Mueller, investigations bureau; and Sgt. Ronald Podraza, traffic enforcement, all made more.

Multiple factors affect pay, including experience, education, specialized training, skill level and more. Gross pay includes overtime and payouts for retirements and resignations. Several of the top paid people in the last year have since retired.

The salary and compensation for the new chief, Maj. Rick Smith, has not yet been finalized.

The department planned to pay $197.8 million in salaries, benefits and pension contributions for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, according to the department’s annual report. That’s nearly 85 percent of its $232.8 million budget that year.

When Forté announced his retirement, it was revealed he was owed nearly $500,000 for vacation, sick and comp time. Police board members say the compensation he received was no different from previous chiefs.

The nearly 2,000 police and support staff in the Kansas City Police Department made a total of $136.2 million in gross wages last year.

Although the vast majority of public employees’ pay comes from taxpayers, some government workers’ salaries also are paid by private grants, user fees and other sources.

Employee salaries often make up the single largest item in governments’ budgets, just as they often are the largest expense for a private company. Examining the information in these databases can provide insights on how fairly governments compensate public employees, how pay for public positions compares with pay in the private sector, how pay varies by position and more.

The database does not include personal information such as addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and Social Security numbers. More than 160 names have been redacted from the database by the department, including people who are in covert positions or who are on personnel, injury, sick, family or military leave.

Contributing: Glenn Rice of The Star

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Find out how much Kansas City police are paid."