The following is a transcript of a report by Team 4 investigator Jim Parsons that first aired Feb. 26, 2007, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.

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A Team 4 investigation exposed sky-high salaries at Pennsylvania's newest bureaucracy.

It's the brand new Gaming Control Board, the agency that will oversee casinos across the state.

According to Team 4's investigative reporter Jim Parsons, Pennsylvania's new slots industry is no gamble for state regulatory workers. They're cashing in every time they cash a paycheck.

Pennsylvania's slots bonanza hasn't come yet for taxpayers. But state employees overseeing the industry have already hit the jackpot.

Three years ago, career cop Tom Sturgeon's base salary was $69,000 a year at the state attorney general's office. Then, his salary almost doubled, jumping to $133,000, when he became a deputy director of enforcement at the Gaming Control Board.

Michael Walsh made $66,000 a year as assistant to the secretary of administration. But when he became the Gaming Board's director of administration, his annual pay ballooned to $103,000.

Still, the agency's chairman claims salaries at gaming are reasonable.

"We're really not very much out of line with the state on the overwhelming number of our jobs," said Tad Decker of the Gaming Control Board.

Not out of line? You be the judge.

The average salary at the gaming board is $68,000. That compares to an average of $43,000 at the state's Liquor Control Board, which the Gaming Board used as a model. And that Liquor Board average doesn't include the salaries of store clerks.

At Gaming, 48 employees make over $75,000, which is 29 percent of all employees. At the LCB, 35 people make over $75,000, which is just 1 percent of the total employees.

And at Gaming, 25 employees make more than $100,000, which is 15 percent of agency employees. At the LCB, only two employees make over $100,000, which is less than 1 percent of all workers.

So why the high salaries?

"There was no gaming industry in Pennsylvania to draw employees from, so in order to attract those, we needed to pay adequate salaries to get people to move to Pennsylvania and get the expertise and get this industry up and running," said Doug Harbach, deputy of communications of the Gaming Control Board.

Sounds like a good reason, except that Team 4's analysis found almost one third of workers at the Gaming Board are not from out of state. In fact, they came from other state jobs, and some of them are making a lot more at gaming than other state workers with the exact same job descriptions.

Like Chief Counsel Frank Donaghue, who left the attorney general's office for a salary of $141,000. His position at the gaming board pays 41 percent higher than other chief counsels in state government.

"We have an agency of approximately 61 investigators," said David Kwait of the Gaming Board.

Kwait, Gaming's director of investigation and enforcement, gets $143,000 a year. His position pays 61 percent more than his counterparts in other agencies.

"The compensation for the work that they've been doing is very, very fair," said Harbach.

Even Harbach is making more money at gaming than he would anywhere else in Harrisburg, 36 percent more when you compare his pay scale to other comparable jobs in state government. His salary is $81,000, and he's the deputy.

Parsons: "Aren't you essentially doing the same thing here that you would be doing at any other state agency? Just providing information to the public?"

Harbach: "I think we are, though, in regards to some of our staffing, we're still working very, very long hours. We have been for the last two years."

Team 4 wondered what kind of long hours employees have been working, so we stopped by the Gaming Board's Pittsburgh offices on three different weekday afternoons.

On one day, a lone employee was in the office at 5 p.m. On a Friday afternoon at 4 p.m., Team 4 didn't see anybody around. And on another day at 4:45 p.m., the office lights were off.

State Sen. Jane Orie said Team 4's investigation into Gaming Board salaries will have an impact on the Legislature's upcoming budget hearings.

"I believe, as a result of your bringing this to the attention and me being able to ask them the questions, we are following up on it," said Orie. "A lot in the Legislature were not aware of the gross inconsistencies in this payment scale."

Those budget hearings for the Gaming Control Board are set for Wednesday in the House and next week in the Senate.

Gaming officials point out that taxpayers will eventually be reimbursed for the agency's $32 million budget out of slots revenues.

But Orie argues those revenues could go to additional property tax relief rather than big salaries.

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