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| Members of Prince Rupert City Council will receive the 2018 Statement of Financial Information tonight. The report will detail the Mayor's and city council members salaries and expenses for 2018. (photo above of the City Council members from the 2018 City of Prince Rupert Annual Report also to be previewed tonight) |
Today makes for report day for the City of Prince Rupert, with a number of financial reviews set to be delivered to City Council at their Monday evening session.
We offer up this preview, for those looking to get a head start in examining the range of topics from those reports; as well as to steer you towards the volume of documents now available for the public to review as part of the Agenda package for tonight's council session.
Among the expansive list of material to be delivered tonight is the annual review of the Salaries and Expenses for elected officials.
That overview of compensation is provided as part of the annual Statement of Financial Information process, a requirement of the Financial Information Regulation.
The final numbers from the year previous are delivered on an annual basis for the public during the month of June.
When it comes to the City of Prince Rupert compensation packages for elected officials for the last year, the final numbers for 2018 are much the same as they were for the 2017 report.
For 2018, the remuneration and expenses for the Mayor and Council come in at just over the $175,000 mark as of the final day of December, that is a slight drop in compensation from a year ago; though the reduced levels can be attributed sadly, to the passing of Councillor Nelson Kinney in March, with his position remaining unfilled until the October 2018 election.
Mayor Lee Brain continues to lead the salary listings for elected officials, his remuneration and taxable benefits for civic duties listed at $60,687 for 2018 a combination of the approved Mayor's salary, as well as an additional amount that was topped up by Council in 2015 through the Planning for Major Projects budget, a pay bump which made use of the Prince Rupert Legacy Fund.
That top up came to an end as of December 31st of this year, with a revised and updated salary structure put in place for the Mayor and council in the Spring.
For 2018, Mr. Brain also claimed reported expenses of $29,133 on the year, making for a significant increase from the expenses of $17,892 that were recorded the year before.
The city's reporting process on expenses comes by way of a lump sum notation on expenses in the SOFI listings, as in years past, there is no further breakdown provided by City Council when it comes to where that spending by civic officials took place.
As we've noted in the past, some municipal governments and the Provincial legislature make for a much more detailed report when it comes to the expenses claimed by public officials; an example of that scale of disclosure can be found from the Provincial legislature reporting process.
Once combined, the the tree elements of Remuneration, Taxable Benefits and Expenses, bring the Mayors totals for 2018 to $90,000.
The Mayor will also be adding to his year pay package through compensation to be delivered through his work with Regional District, that SOFI declaration will be released through that organization later this month.
Last year the Mayor's Regional District duties provided for an additional 13,507 dollars plus expenses towards his income stream. The Regional District financial disclosure will come later this month as part of the June meeting for the regional body.
Councillor Cunningham, also receives additional compensation for his work with North Coast Regional District, as do other council members who may attend meetings from time to time throughout the year..
As for the remainder of the Council collective, for 2018, the majority of the City Councillors collected remuneration and taxable benefits of $13,431 each, with varying levels of expenses claimed through to the end of 2018. The two newest members, elected in the October election made just over 2,000 dollars for the final few sessions of last year.
The late Councillor Kinney was attributed to the highest level of listed expenses for the 2018 period at $8,265, that in the form of unspent honorarium which Council voted to donate to his estate back July.
Councillors Randhawa and Mirau kept their expense levels the lowest on the year with both Council members reporting expense requirements to the $274 point through last year.
2018 was also the last year that Council members could make use of Revenue Canada's tax free benefit feature, which in years past, had allowed councillors to claim one third of an elected officials salary as tax free.
To compensate for that lost benefit, the Mayor and Council received a report from the Mayor's Standing Committee on Salary and Compensation in April.
The findings from the committee set in motion a new pay scale for the Mayor and Council members and returned that lost one third tax free status as direct revenue, with the moves made retroactive to January of this year.
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| The 2018 SOFI report on salaries, benefits and expenses for Prince Rupert City Council (click to enlarge) |
The SOFI documentation for 2018 can be reviewed from the Agenda listings for the June 10th Regular council session, those files are part of the package available on the city's website.
Once the report is received by Council, the financial reviews can be found on the City Financials archive page here, allowing for a year to year comparison.
The Review of Council compensation is one of a number of reports that have been provided for Council, as we review the other elements from them you can review some notes on those reports below:
Prince Rupert's payments for Goods and Services were shared among 102 suppliers in 2018
City of Prince Rupert pay and benefits crossed over the 15 million dollar mark in 2018
More items of note on the City's budget process can be reviewed here, while our archive of articles on City Council Discussions can be found here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review
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