Despite the recession and an unexpectedly slim margin of victory, Mayor Bloomberg is paying out larger bonuses to campaign staffers this year than he did in 2005, The Post has learned.
Four years ago, when he swamped Democratic rival Fernando Ferrer by 19.4 percentage points, the mayor added $1.55 million to the final paychecks of 79 campaign aides.
On average, each received 20 percent of their base pay. But a handful got a lot more.
Patti Harris walked off with $350,000, a sum likely to be matched this time around.
Harris, who earns $227,219 in her role as first deputy mayor and is Bloomberg’s closest confidante, took a leave of absence to work in the campaign between September and November.
In 2001, when Bloomberg upset Democrat Mark Green, the mayor handed out $850,000 in bonuses to 11 campaign staffers.
There had been some speculation that Bloomberg would shut his checkbook this year because he eked out a third-term victory by a mere 4.6 points after spending $102 million from his own pockets, $17 million more than in 2005.
One insider said that speculation was wrong from the start.
“Why wouldn’t he give them out?” said the insider. “He won, didn’t he?”
Like all of this year’s candidates, Bloomberg has to report on his expenditures again to the Campaign Finance Board by Jan. 15.