This is a letter to the editor in the Times Colonist from July 8 2013
Re: “Mosaic of region jobs pumps up payrolls,” June 30.
Ten years ago, the Times Colonist was kind enough to publish a letter in which I analyzed the salaries of elected officials of the 13 municipalities, and compared the financial effect on citizens with a city which had only one mayor and council.
There are still 13 municipalities, with 13 mayors and 78 councillors.
The total mayors’ salaries in 2003 were $300,549. They are now $473,263.39, for an increase of $172,714.39 or 57.46 per cent.
The councillors’ salaries in 2003 totalled $827,006. This has mushroomed to $1,371,524, for an increase of $544,518 or 65.8 per cent.
Looking at the four core municipalities (Victoria, Saanich, Oak Bay and Esquimalt), the 2003 figures for the mayors was $171, 730. The present figure is $254,917, for an increase of $83,187 or 48.44 per cent.
For the councillors, the 2003 figure was $455, 824, which has risen to $768,938, an increase of $313,114 or 68.69 per cent. I doubt if many taxpayers have received such increases.
In my letter of 2003, I made the comparison with Edmonton, which has more than twice the population of our 13 municipalities and is managed by one mayor and 12 councillors.
These figures are for elected officials only. Thirteen city managers, fire chiefs and city halls with all the inevitable staff add up to vast sums to be provided by the taxpayer. Amalgamation of some sort would appear to be overdue.
Kenneth Brind
Brentwood Bay
© Copyright 2013
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