VernonBlog: $100,000 club grows by half at City Hall

Monday, June 23, 2008

$100,000 club grows by half at City Hall

Ron Seymour Kelowna Courier June 23
The number of City of Kelowna employees earning more than $100,000 rose by half last year. And salary increases for senior managers averaged about 10 per cent, newly-released financial statements show. “Council recognizes that to keep staff and maintain the expertise that we do have, we have to pay people accordingly,” Mayor Sharon Shepherd said Friday. In 2006, 20 city employees were paid more than $100,000. Last year, according to financial statements to be presented at today‘s council meeting, that number rose to 29. The highest paid municipal employee was city manager Ron Mattiussi, who earned $222,000, up from $170,000 in 2006, an increase of 31 per cent. But Mattiussi became city manager midway through 2006, after the retirement of Ron Born, so part of his salary for that year reflected his lower position as planning director. The next highest-paid employee was finance director Paul Macklem, who earned $163,000, up from $140,000 in 2006, an increase of 16 per cent. For part of 2007, however, Macklem was also in charge of the planning department.

Among a dozen senior city employees whose responsibilities were broadly similar in 2006 and 2007, most saw a pay rise of about 10 per cent. Some typical examples: recreation director David Graham had an 11 per cent raise, from $140,000 to $155,000; airport manager Roger Sellick saw a nine per cent pay bump, from $124,000 to $135,000; environment manager Mark Watt had an 11 per cent increase in salary, from $91,000 to $101,000; transportation manager Ron Westlake got a nine per cent increase, from $110,000 to $120,000, and parks manager Joe Creron saw his pay rise 13 per cent, from $102,000 to $115,000. By provincial law, B.C. municipalities must publish the names and salaries of all employees earning more than $75,000. Of the 29 City of Kelowna employees who made more than $100,000 last year, only two were women.

Salaries and job responsibilities for senior city managers are reviewed by a consultant, Hay Group, that compares their workload and pay with those of bureaucrats holding similar positions in other cities. The consultant then makes recommendations regarding pay increases for senior officials to city councillors. “We‘re provided with information about how similar positions are paid throughout the province, and we use that to help us make our decisions,” Shepherd said. “We try to keep our staff committed to this city.” From April 2007 to April 2008, the average wage for a typical British Columbia worker rose 1.5 per cent in constant dollars, according to B.C. Statistics.
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Don Quixote Note: Kelowna Stats can be found at