The number of City of Ottawa employees earning six figures ballooned in 2008 – to three times the size it had been in previous years.

According to documents released by the city, more than 1,200 employees passed the $100,000 earning mark last year.

Normally around 450 employees make the list, but in 2008, 646 firefighters settled a new contract after four years that earned them retroactive cheques and pushed them into the higher-earning bracket.

The city clerk and solicitor releases a list of city staff who earn over $100,000 each year as part of the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act.

This year, five of the city's employees were reported to have earned over $200,000, among them city manager Kent Kirkpatrick and auditor general Alain Lalonde.

Ottawa's police chief also appeared high on the list with a salary of $219,464, but another 236 Ottawa police employees also made the cut.

Other employees of note were Mayor Larry O'Brien, who earned $162,915 and OC Transpo head Alain Mercier, who was paid $159,869.

The number of employees passing the $100,000 mark is higher this year, noted Steve Kanellakos, the deputy city manager for city operations, but 78 per cent of those employees are emergency service workers.

"It's really an unusual year," says Kanellakos. "[The firefighters] received lump sum payments last year, which pushed the average salary of an average firefighter over the $100,000 mark."

Kanellakos says that next year, the number of employees on the list should be back down to its regular size.