Salarywell abovemedian

A controversial pay rise for Christchurch City Council chief executive Tony Marryatt put his salary more than $100,000 above the median pay for similar roles, a report shows.

The report, from remuneration consultant Strategic Pay, was used to help set Mr Marryatt’s $68,000 pay rise, taking his salary to $538,529.

Mr Marryatt – a former Hamilton City Council chief executive – said on Friday, after weeks of criticism, he had asked the council to stop paying the increase.

The council released the document in response to several Official Information Act requests from media.

The report included figures for median salaries in the national public sector, for similar roles around the country and for the general market – a mix of public and private sector salaries.

The median salary for the public sector was $409,363, while the figure for chief executives at similar organisations was $425,575.

In the report, Strategic Pay executive director Noel Davie said the company would normally use public sector or local government figures to determine an appropriate salary for a council chief executive like Mr Marryatt.

As the council’s current pay policy was to align executive salaries with the general market, the company had used the general market median of $494,517 as the starting point for a pay rise recognising ‘‘fully competent performance’’.

The decision to boost Mr Marryatt’s salary to $538,529 represented an 8.9 per cent increase on the median salary – near the top of the recommended range.

Councillor Helen Broughton said she was concerned about the use of private sector figures to set Mr Marryatt’s salary, and she had ‘‘battled’’ for years to use public sector salaries.

Local and central government salaries were ‘‘the most appropriate comparison’’, she said.