Pay hikes of nearly 9pc for councillors

RATEPAYERS across the country are about to pump an extra $3.1 million into the pay packets of their local politicians.

The Remuneration Authority, which sets the pay for city, district and regional councils, has increased the national pay pool by 8.9 per cent, meaning some councillors will pocket rises of up to $16,000 after this year’s elections.

By comparison, average workers’ pay packets are creeping up about 1.8 per cent a year.

Under the changes, published this week, Wellington City councillors are among the big winners, with their base salaries increasing nearly $11,000 to $76,600.

But other roles would take pay cuts of as much as $17,000. Those would include Greater Wellington Regional Council chairwoman Fran Wilde and Wellington Mayor Celia WadeBrown, if they are reelected.

Local Government New Zealand chairman Lawrence Yule welcomed the new pay system, as elected officials were finding it increasingly difficult to hold down other employment, he said.

‘‘If they’re to give up other career options, or significant family life, or significant other things they’re doing, then they do have to be properly remunerated.’’

Knowing the minimum salary before the election would help potential candidates decide whether to stand, he said. ‘‘We’re struggling to attract quality candidates ... it gives potential candidates certainty . . .’’

But Public Service Association national secretary Richard Wagstaff described the increased pay pool as ‘‘way out of proportion’’ with what council staff and employees in the wider public sector were getting.

‘‘It really undermines the messages employers are giving these workers – that everyone needs to tighten their belt because these are hard times.

‘‘Clearly councillors work hard, but so do the people that work for councils, and there should be a much fairer distribution of resources to reward everyone evenly.’’

Until now, the Remuneration Authority has set mayors’ salaries and assigned a pool for councillors, which councils decided how to divvy up.

Now, the authority will set a base wage for all councillors and provide an extra pool for additional responsibilities such as deputy mayoralties, committee chairmanships and portfolios, which councils will still decide how to divide.

But that pool will be capped at 1.5 times the base councillor salary, and the pay of any individual councillor is also capped at 1.5 times the base salary. In Wellington, that means no city councillor can be paid more than $114,900.

The authority predicts that deputy mayors will get about 40 per cent extra, and other responsibilities would attract between 5 and 25 per cent more.

At present, only one Wellington councillor earns the base salary, with others having their pay topped up by between $14,374 for portfolio leaders and $31,504 for the deputy mayor.

Auckland Council is not affected by the changes.

The authority defended its pay increases for many councillors, saying that, for some, the real increase would be much less because their base salaries absorbed meeting fees and special rates.

Chairman John Eddington said the biggest increases had been capped and the overall outcome was seen as fair to all.

A balance had to be struck between the impact on ratepayers and fairness to employees, he said. ‘‘We found that, in a number of cases . . . councillors were being underpaid and we have taken some steps towards rectifying the situation.’’

The overall cost to each citizen would be only about $1.17, he said.