City salaries on par with counterparts

By Tracy Clark - Penticton Western News Published: July 10, 2008

Ever wonder how much it pays to be mayor in Penticton, or how the city’s wages stack up against some of its closest neighbours? According to a new report, Penticton’s mayor is about on par with Vernon, the nearest city of comparable size. Penticton Mayor Jake Kimberley was paid $57,120 last year, plus $6,700 in expenses, within $200 of Vernon Mayor Wayne Lippert’s total remuneration, which reached $63,681 last year. The case was similar for city councillors who differed by about $700 apiece, earning around $20,000 each in the two cities.In comparison Kelowna, a city nearly triple the size of Penticton and Vernon, pays its mayor $56,492 in remuneration but tacks on an additional $27,922 in non-taxable allowance, plus expenses. Councillors have a remuneration rate of between $17,000-$18,000, but are also given $8,000-$9,000 in non-taxable allowance. In Summerland, which is about a third the size of Penticton, the mayor’s remuneration is $23,000 and council is paid $11,000 per year — a third of which is expenses and non-taxable allowance.

So what about the rest of the city’s staff? In Penticton last year there were 10 staff members earning more than $100,000 per year, and 46 staff earning more than $75,000 per year, compared with Vernon where two staff earned over $100,000 last year and 27 earned over $75,000. The highest earners in both cities were chief administrative officers — Penticton administrator Leo den Boer earns $148,379 plus expenses, slightly higher than Vernon’s CAO who earned $130,000 last year. Kelowna’s city manager, a similar position, was paid almost $230,000. Rounding out the rest of the top five earners in the city last year were corporate services director Jack Kler, who with expenses took home more than $129,000; Mitch Moroziuk director of development and engineering services took home $126,000 including expenses; human resources director Dwayne Burdeniuk earned $120,000 including the largest expense account in the city at more than $16,000; and special projects director Barry Reid, who, including expenses, took home just over $120,000.