Cathy Lanier.

Rend Smith over at the City Paper alerts us that MPD Chief Cathy Lanier received a raise. She currently makes $230,743 a year, meaning she racks in more than $30K more than Mayor Vince Gray, who gets paid a piddly $200K a year.

The Chief, according to an MPD spokesperson, “received her 5 percent base retention differential that every sworn member of MPD receives upon reaching 20 years of police service.”

Smith reminds us that this isn’t the first time people have been surprised at how much Lanier makes. When she signed a five-year contract in 2007, she started the job with a salary of $175,000, with yearly pay increases of 3 percent, not including bonuses.

WCP tells us:

In June, MPD told the D.C. Council that Lanier made $212,756 in fiscal year 2010 and would make $219,755 in fiscal year 2011. But in December, during an interview, Lanier confirmed to WTOP that she was actually making $225,813…

In order to compensate for the mixup, the council raised Lanier’s pay. She also got a longevity raise in 2010, said WTOP, which put her at $225,000.

Long story short: Cathy Lanier probably makes more than you, and in the face of budget cuts — did you catch that we mentioned you now have to pay $45 for a trash can in the morning round up? — it might raise a few eyebrows.