The City of Parksville, the Town of Qualicum Beach and the Regional District of Nanaimo recently released their Statement of Financial Information (SOFI) for 2016 which includes money paid to elected representatives and staff.
The figures show Qualicum Beach councillors continue to make nearly 50 per cent more than their Parksville counterparts, though the two municipalities’ mayors draw comparable pay.
A Qualicum Beach town councillor is paid $14,183 a year plus $7,092 in expenses. In 2016, Mayor Teunis Westbroek was paid $23,468 plus $11,734 in expenses. The five elected officials in the town can submit additional expenses for reimbursement. Westbroek had the most in reimbursed expenses at $13,841 for a grand total of $49,043 in remuneration and Coun. Barry Avis came in second for reimbursed expenses at $9,894 for a grand total of $31,169 in remuneration.
In Parksville, Mayor Marc Lefebvre was paid a nearly identical base salary to Westbroek, at $23,036.16, but had a substantially lower expense reimbursement of $6,797. Lefebvre’s combined remuneration of $29,833 was more than $4,000 less than he received in 2015 ($33,976).
The town and city’s SOFI report doesn’t include Westbroek and Lefebvre’s remuneration for being the communities’ representative on the RDN’s board of directors. In 2016, Westbroek collected $15,332 which is down from 2015 when he collected $16,916 and Lefebvre collected $15,462 in 2016 which is down from 2015 when he collected $16,396.
Parksville councillors continued to come in well behind their Qualicum Beach counterparts in 2016 at $9,887 plus expenses.
Expenses paid ranged from Coun. Mary Beil’s $5,133 to the $2,681 of Sue Powell. Kim Burden, who joined council in November following a byelection, made $1,442 and claimed no expenses. Al Grier, who stepped down from Parksville council in the summer to trigger the byelection, earned $6,379 in salary and claimed just $473 in expenses for his roughly half-year of service.
The SOFI reports also include lists of employees making more than $75,000 a year for both municipalities. Sixteen Qualicum Beach staff members were above that number in 2016. Six of those staff members made more than $100,000, led by director of engineering Bob Weir at $149,504.
Total pay for all Qualicum Beach town employees was $5.5 million which included $996,376 in employee benefits and other adjustments.
In Parksville, 24 employees made more than $75,000, including nine who topped $100,000 in remuneration. Chief administrative officer Debbie Comis led the list with $154,239.90.
Total pay for all city employees in Parksville was $5.6 million, with an additional $115,950 paid out in total expenses. Heading the list for individual expenses was Keeva Kehler, director of administrative services, with $8,518.
In the Regional District of Nanaimo, general manager of transportation and emergency services Dennis Trudeau came in at the top with $204,239.
As for RDN directors from rural areas, board chair Bill Veenhof (Bowser/Deep Bay) was paid $50,646, Bob Rogers (Nanoose Bay) received $29,236, Julian Fell (Coombs/Errington) received $28,520 and Joe Stanhope (French Creek) received $30,414.
— NEWS Staff