It’s the highest in Hawaii history, according to Honolulu City Council member Tom Berg. But we have it on good authority that Berg may be exaggerating.

Inside Honolulu reports:

Anti-rail Honolulu City Council member Tom Berg has just wrapped up what he termed some “friendly” questions for new HART chief Dan Grabauskas.

Among them was a question about Grabauaskas’ pay. Under the terms of his three-year contract, Grabauskas has an annual base salary of $245,000, plus $42,000 per year for housing and transportation and the possibility of a $35,000 annual performance bonus. Put it all together and it could be in excess of $300,000 per year.

Berg said that’s three times what the governor makes and more than people who are working on a “cure for AIDS.” He also said Grabauskas “probably” makes more money than any person “in the history of the state of Hawaii.”

A quick run through the Civil Beat Fact Check machine finds that’s probably the closest thing to a “screaming lie“ we’ve seen yet. University of Hawaii Football Coach Norm Chow is making $550,000 per annum right now. Former coach Greg McMackin was the highest paid state employee with a base salary of $1.1 million.

Grabauskas handled the exchange deftly, saying he hopes to prove to Berg and everybody else that he’s worth the salary by seeing the project through to success — on time and on budget.