Former city GM’s salary topped $416,000 in 2017

Amount includes ‘additional contractual payment’ of $220K

The highest payout by the City of Saskatoon last year went to a senior manager who only worked half the year.

Catherine Gryba, who left her position with the city as general manager of corporate performance midway through 2017, took home $416,672 last year. That’s nearly double her 2016 salary of $211,268 and is believed to be the largest single payout to an employee in the city’s history.

Gryba’s salary was more than $100,000 higher than that of former city manager Murray Totland, who left his position at the end of last year. The city manager is usually the city’s highest-paid employee.

In an interview on Thursday, Gryba said she could not comment on the payment, but she suggested she didn’t choose to leave.

“I had 34 great years at the city and I enjoyed every year,” she said. “And, really, if a new council decides to bring in their own people, that’s their choice.”

Gryba said she has started a consulting business.

The city’s chief financial officer, Kerry Tarasoff, said in an email on Thursday that Gryba’s payout included an “additional contractual payment” of $220,000.

Former police chief Clive Weighill, whose position usually draws the second-highest city salary, still cracked the Top 10 at $204,576, even though he retired last fall.

Cheryl McRorie, the former director of ticketing and business projects at SaskTel Centre, made more than Weighill in 2017, taking home $210,212. Like Gryba, that’s nearly double McRorie’s 2016 salary of $114,027.

Jason Keating, SaskTel Centre’s former director of operations, also received a substantial pay bump, from $110,105 in 2016 to $153,160 last year. McRorie and Keating could not be reached for comment Thursday. Tarasoff referred inquires to SaskTel Centre officials, who could also not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, the number of city employees making more than $100,000 a year rose to 961 in 2017, up by 49 from 2016.

That’s the lowest increase in employees making $100,000 or more in four years.

However, the number of city employees pulling in more than $100,000 has more than doubled in the last five years, from 389 in 2012. In 2001, only eight city salaries topped $100,000. Police and fire department employees continue to account for most of those making more than $100,000.

Four hundred police employees topped $100,000 in 2017, double the number in 2014. The fire department employed 279 in the $100,000 club last year, which was down slightly from 2016.

Overall, police account for 42 per cent of the city staff making more than $100,000, while the fire department includes 29 per cent.

Municipal employees outside the police and fire departments who make $100,000 or more totalled 282 in 2017, or 27 per cent.

This group includes Remai Modern art gallery executive director Gregory Burke ($189,165), TCU Place chief executive Bob Korol

($182,570), SaskTel Centre CEO Will Lofdahl ($180,736) and Saskatoon Public Library director Carol Cooley ($171,124).

By comparison, 768 City of Regina employees made more than $100,000 in 2017, a City of Saskatoon report says.

Saskatoon’s number includes 41 employees who work for Saskatoon Light & Power; Regina does not run

a municipal electrical utility.

The largest discrepancy between the two cities is fire department staff — 279 are in the $100,000 club in Saskatoon, but only 183 in Regina. In total, the City of Saskatoon paid $313.1 million in salaries to its 4,428 employees in 2017, for an average salary of $70,709.