The Reporter marks a milestone this year, presenting its 30th Survey of Public Pay in 31 years.

It's a milestone for me, too: I've been responsible for the salary lists for the last 10 years.

How did a part-time religion writer/op-ed columnist/food page copy editor get roped into the Public Pay Survey? As so often happens at small newspapers, I had the time and the interest. And because in 1996, Editor Diane Barney sent me to a workshop on "computer-assisted reporting."

The workshop was designed to teach us old dogs some new tricks, such as how to use electronic spreadsheets and data bases. I never have figured out the data bases, but spreadsheets are now my friend. And sitting in that classroom, I recognized that the pay survey was a prime candidate for the spreadsheet format.

You see, until that point, The Reporter lists were rudimentary. In fact, for the first two decades or so, they included only the position, the name of the person filling it and the base pay.

In the early 1990s, some enterprising staff writers started including perks, such as mileage and expense allowances or longevity pay. In 1993, they started asking about health benefits - and more than one agency "declined to answer."

The Reporter kept asking, though, and eventually the agencies came around. In fact, it got to be a sort of game. The survey would come out and the next week would bring one or more telephone calls from public servants distraught that "you printed my (fill in the blank naming the perk or benefit), but you didn't mention that (another agency) gets (the same thing/something even better)."

We would take note of the complaint and the next year, we'd ask the other agency for the information. Almost always we'd uncover another benefit.

Until 10 years ago, we had a whole bunch of numbers and not much ability to know what they might mean. Sure, we could report that the city manager or police chief made a percentage more this year than last, but no one had the wherewithal to go through each and every salary and compare it to the previous year's. Remember, we were working with calculators at best.

So when the electronic spreadsheet instructor demonstrated how multiple calculations could be done simultaneously, I knew we needed a computer to assist us in our public pay reporting.

But in 1997, none of the computers in the newsroom were equipped with electronic spreadsheets. So I ended up doing '97 on my home computer. In fact, I worked from home for a couple of surveys. When Editor Barney got a computer with Microsoft Excel on it, I started evicting her from her office during survey weeks. Finally, all of the newsroom computers were upgraded, which meant staff writers could now input data, too.

So what are the numbers telling us now?

For one thing, we can offer a much more accurate picture of what taxpayers are spending to compensate elected officials and top managers. We also can spot trends more easily, such as increases in retirement contributions or hikes in health care costs.

I also like looking at the historical numbers in different ways.

For instance, between 1977 and 2007, the cost of living more than doubled. Yet most of the 26 salaries we have tracked since Day 1 grew by three, four, five or even six times. Granted, the population was growing, too, which often means more responsibilities. And there's nothing magical about the 1977 numbers. Some positions might not have been paying enough back then.

And yet, some salaries have barely kept up. Take the warden at the California Medical Facility. If that $42,204 salary from 1977 had merely paced inflation, it would be about $30,000 more today. Yet, thanks to pay hikes enacted during the past year, the top medical positions at the prison are now worth one-third to three-quarters more than they were in 1977 - after accounting for inflation.

Or look at the Vacaville school district. Calculate the cost-of-living increases and you can see that elementary school principal pay hasn't changed much in 30 years, yet the superintendent's pay is nearly 50 percent higher.

Recently, I've been reading about the growing gap between rich and poor. I can see that in The Reporter's survey, especially in the past 10 years. Just look at the list of top salaries. A decade ago, we were breathless that 40 managers were being paid a base salary of at least $100,000. This year, 82 mangers are paid at least $150,000. Yet since 1997, the cost of living has climbed only 33 percent and the population, 13 percent.

In the past decade, the base pay for the CMF warden, Solano Court judges and Vacaville school district's special education director have barely kept pace with inflation, while the elementary school principals' pay is actually worth less today than it was 10 years ago.

But other top salaries have grown by 50 percent or more - after inflation. And the higher the pay, the bigger the percentage increases.

So how have the rest of us been faring? Well, per capita personal income in Solano County was $28,360 back in 1997. In 2005, the most recent figures available, it was $32,545 - about 10 percent less than what it should have been if it had kept up with the cost of living.

The author, a Vacaville resident, edits The Reporter's opinion page. E-mail: opinion@thereporter.com.