PHILLIP ENG, the new general manager and CEO at the MBTA, will be one of the highest paid transit authority executives in the country.
Eng, who is starting his new job April 10, received a five-year contract with a base salary of $470,000 a year plus an “annual retention payment” of $30,000, according to the contract. His base salary will increase 1.5 percent on September 1, 2024, and each year thereafter
He will also receive a “success bonus” of up to 10 percent of his base salary in July 2024, 15 percent in July 2025, and 20 percent in July 2025 and two subsequent years. Those success bonuses could total up to $47,000 in 2024, up to $70,500 in July 2025, and up to $94,000 in each of the three subsequent years.
The exact size of the bonus will be determined by Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca based on performance criteria mutually agreed upon by the secretary and Eng.
Eng will also receive $80,000 in relocation expenses.
The pay package for Eng is toward the high end of those included in a survey earlier this year of salaries of top officials at comparable transit authorities conducted by a firm retained by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
That survey found base compensation ranged from a low of $280,000 at New Jersey Transit to a high of $485,000 at Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
Eng’s base pay is $130,000 higher than what former MBTA general manager Steve Poftak received. It is also much higher than what interim General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville is receiving.
Gov. Maura Healey praised Gonneville’s job as interim general manager, lauding him for bringing greater transparency to the agency. Gonneville indicated he is staying on with the MBTA but declined to say for how long. He also did not answer when asked if T officials have offered him a pay hike.