Tauranga City Councillors are harder working and have their noses only shallowly into the public trough compared with other councils, discussion about a Remuneration Authority questionnaire reveals.
Tauranga City Councillors' salaries are paid out of the pools system administered by this authority.
It is asking councils whether they want the system to continue or to change to a salary based payment system where councillors are paid according to the size of the council they are on.
There are inequities sneaking into the existing pools system where councillors with similar sized responsibilities in different councils are being paid different salaries.
Murray Guy says Tauranga City Councillors are not eligible for additional payments for sitting on other boards, unlike Bay of Plenty Regional Councillors, some of whom are making many thousands more than their base council salary for a seat on a council controlled organisation or CCO, or Quayside Holdings.
'A lot of these things need to be taken into account.”
Tauranga City Councillors also work fulltime, compared with representatives on some other councils who are still able to maintain day jobs.
Mayor Stuart Crosby's concern is the authority is trying to put local government into ‘little boxes'.
'They appear to be looking to create a structure where we are all the same,” says Stuart at Tuesday's meeting.
'All the councils up and down New Zealand have different dynamics to them and different challenges, therefore different councillor time requirements.
'There's no doubt there are some inequities up and down New Zealand.
'I talk to mayors and councillors up and down New Zealand and there are inequities in terms of remuneration, there's no doubt about that.”
An example used at the meeting was the annual plan deliberations.
Some councils spend three days on their plan, Tauranga has spent six weeks.
A Tauranga City Councillors' salary is $73,565. Committee chairs receive $80,564, and the deputy mayor $83,564.
The mayor's pay is also set by the remuneration authority, but is outside the pool.
He receives a salary of $121,940 for effectively being chairman of the board of a commercial entity with an asset base of $3 billion dollars and a $40 million cashflow.
In addition, the council has a ‘very modest' expenses policy which is public and all councillors' expenses claims go up on the website.
'Travel has basically been cut out now as a result of a change,” says Stuart.
'They get a technology allowance which covers phones, cell phones; and that's it.”
Some other councils they get a lot more over and above their salary, says Stuart.
On the regional council, he says a number of those councillors are getting directorships as well for both Quayside Holdings and the Port of Tauranga.
Stuart is a director of Tauranga City Venues Ltd for which he receives no director's fee. Deputy Mayor David Stewart also received no additional payment when he was a director of Tauranga City Aquatics Ltd.
'My experience with the Remuneration Authority is they don't tend to take a great deal of notice of submissions,” says Stuart.
'But I do know there have been some changes on the board, so they may well do that now. I might have been a bit harsh on that comment.”
Councillors were asked to reply to specific questions which will be forwarded to the authority.
Only one response is permitted for each council, and final decision will be made by the remuneration authority.
The authority's analysis shows a variety of different salaries for different councillors.
On a councillor per ratepayer cost Tauranga's councillors are estimated at $6.68 per head of population.
This is compares favourably with Wairoa at $17.17, and Queenstown Lakes at $12.69, but drops compared with Christchurch where each councillor costs $3.05 per citizen.
Tauranga City Council is usually compared with similarly sized cities like Dunedin, or Hamilton, but those figures were not provided.
15 comments
Pay drop I think.
Posted on 26-10-2011 11:58 | By wreck1080
Tauranga councillors paid double that of christchurch councillors. Thats what I am comparing against.
Posted on 26-10-2011 13:25 | By Ross01
You read the first paragraph of this article and the immediate question comes to mind-- DO THEY ACHIEVE VERY MUCH FOR ALL THIS REPORTED HARD WORK???
same article?
Posted on 26-10-2011 14:09 | By Gerry W
I have read the above article and I cannot find where Tauranga councilors are being paid twice that of Christchurch councilors. Sure the cost per rate payers is higher but Christchurch population is three times that of Tauranga therefore the cost per ratepayer is far less......Gerry
DIRECTOR'S FEES YA WHAT?
Posted on 26-10-2011 14:22 | By SCOTT NUFFIN4U
At least Quayside makes a profit, perhaps the Mayor could produce the results pormised then 'maybe' a director's fee would be fair. Councillors actually have no responsibility for anything and insurance covers any blunders should anyone have a go at them. So what salary are they being paid for? What responsibility? Anyway it is not a "SALARY" that they are paid.
Comparison.
Posted on 26-10-2011 17:16 | By Jitter
I agree with previous comment. You cannot compare what TC Councillors pay costs individual ratepayers with the three centres named as the population (ratepayers) bases are completely different. It may be a far better idea to pay councillors a fixed salary where they all have to perform to expectations/targets set independantly before receiving an annual pay rise. Targets set could be basically the same for all councils across the country. Their annual performance review could be carried out by a panel made up partly of qualified independant assessors and partly selected ratepayers. The current method of councillors dividing amongst themselves annually an ever increasing pool of money specified by the Remuneration Authority is ridiculous. In this time of recession they should fall into line with the majority of working people and receive nothing extra, or very little. There are perhaps two or three current councillors only who earn and deserve their current pay. As it is a full time job they should have to work for any annual pay increase they receive and not just turn up to meetings.
YES JITTER
Posted on 27-10-2011 00:00 | By PLONKER
The major factor missing for Councillors is achieving something useful for ratepayers. I agree all Councils should be ranked on a set perforance criteria, then remuneration is paid to say the top 50% only, that will get there atttention focus on the important stuff and of course 2-3 hours of valuable time will not be spent talking about 'tree hugging' or something equally meritous, NOT!
PAY REFLECT DEBT
Posted on 27-10-2011 12:25 | By DRONE
I think that full pay should only be entitled when there is no debt at TCC. In between it is a percentage of the maximum that they can borrowed, so right now as TCC is over the limit of borrowings/commitments that means Councillors will have to pay money in until they fix that. Sadly for everyone else the pay packet "REWARDS FAILURE" more than: - success, good governance, common sense, proven leadership (still awaiting its arrival).
'SURVEYING' PAY
Posted on 28-10-2011 12:42 | By TERMITE
That usually means look at it to get it right, so if that is the case all pay packets will be cancelled and replaced by a bill to be paid to TCC.
COST US ALL MILLIONS
Posted on 29-10-2011 14:11 | By ANNA KISSED
That means that mega dollars should be paid back to ratepayers. So much has been borrowed and there is little hope of it ever being paid back, especially when the large numbers of residences are packing up and leaving. No wonder they don't want a census just yet.
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Posted on 05-11-2011 14:34 | By SCOTT NUFFIN4U
That of course very much relates to 'sheeple', the concept is that the less the masses know and are aware of the more they look, act, and perform like sheep. To advance the concept further ... 'Silence of the lambs' them implies the next stage of that, being that a lamb is timid, young and vulnerable therefore an easier target to 'milk, lead or more like mislead'. Hannibal of course administered a suitable drug to ensure a degree of compliance, so the obvious next question to that is what 'drug' does TCC use on ratepayers to keep them in the dark and compliant?
GOOD ANALOGY
Posted on 06-11-2011 10:47 | By YOGI
The answer is simple, our rates money is supplied to those required to be "friendly" to the "cause" so as to ensure financial dependance and so unadulterated loyalty.
WE WOULD ALL BE SAFE ON A
Posted on 06-11-2011 13:29 | By PLONKER
General failure to live up to any expectation as a result of that, of course the pay then would reflect "results", termination would be immanent, WIN WIN!!!
2 MANY PAID 2 MUCH
Posted on 06-11-2011 20:38 | By THOMAS BROWN
I wish the Councillors could be paid what the senior staff get paid, why should they get paid more than me I am more important so should be paid a lot more than them? They have a job for life, Councillors are only maybe three years or a little more.
GET PAID TO MUCH NOW
Posted on 06-11-2011 23:51 | By PLONKER
@ Thomas Brown, come on mate in the real world you would have been fired 25 years ago, that of course assumes that you got the job in the first place.
HOW MANY TREES A YEAR?
Posted on 09-11-2011 08:52 | By SCARLET PIMPINEL
With all the paper they generate.
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