When officials persuaded Carlton Christensen last year to join the new three-member, full-time Utah Transit Authority Board after Gov. Gary Herbert rejected other nominees, he left a $143,000 a year job as director of Salt Lake County’s Department of Regional Transportation.
After he started at UTA, Christensen had to wait a few months for an advisory council to set board member salaries — but he knew that legislation had allowed a maximum of $150,000 a year for the job. The advisory group set it much lower, at $129,000.
“I had to cancel an insurance policy and do some other things to make ends meet,” Christensen said.