Zaffino still atop city’s salary pyramid
Records show city manager earned $187,000 last year, $25,000 more than city’s next-highest-paid bureaucrat
The 82 employees of the City of West Kelowna collectively earned $8.6 million last year, newlyreleased compensation records show.
Jim ZafÀno, the city’s manager, was once again the highest-paid employee, earning $187,000.
Deputy manager Tracey Batten earned $162,000, engineering chief Allen Fillion earned $151,000, development manager Nancy Henderson earned $150,000 and Àre Chief Jason Brolund earned $147,000.
Brolund earned more money than any of his men in 2016.
In past years, because of retroactive payments associated with the settlement of outstanding contracts, rank-and-file fireÀghters have earned more than the chief.
Year-over-year salary comparisons for city staff are complicated because many municipal employees actually earned more money in 2015 than they did last year.
“Total remuneration and expenses reported for city staff in 2016 was $8,582,592, which was $198,889, or a 2.3 per cent decrease from 2015,” reads part of a staff report going to council Tuesday.
“The majority of the decrease is as a result of the uniqueness in the pay cycle for staff which included 27 pay periods in 2015. A normal year generally consists of 26 pay periods (biweekly pay cycle) which occur over the course of 364 days.
“The leftover 365th day accumulates over time and eventually adds up to one full period,” the staff report says.
Doug Findlater, the mayor of West Kelowna, earned $65,000, and each of the Àve city councillors earned $22,000.