Monday, August 24, 2020

City of Prince Rupert SOFI report shows employee pay and benefits continue to rise



The city's report on employee remuneration will be reviewed at tonight's Prince Rupert City Council session and as the Council members work their way through range of material to be made available, they may take note of a new benchmark that has been reached with this years annual account for the taxpayers of the city.

That of the city once again surpassing the fifteen million dollar mark when it comes to compensation for the city's work force for both city hall staff and unionized workers outside of the Third Avenue West facility.

The report for Council provides for the latest roll call of city staff members that have jumped into the upper tiers of the salary schedules over the course of the last 365 days, with some new names and increasing numbers making their way onto the listings for this year.

Those findings come from the annual release of the report on Civic Employee Remuneration and Expenses, a document which is included as part of this years Statement of Financial Information for 2019.

The annual listings of those employees making more than $75,000 is required to be disclosed by the municipality as part of the Financial Information Regulations, the statement is usually released as part of the large final stream of financial information that is delivered each June.

This year, owing to the COVID-19 situation in BC, the province allowed for an additional two months for the city to release its information.

The growing umber of those crossing over the reporting threshold of 75,000 dollar continues a trend which has seen more names added to the upper tier of the list in recent years.

This year finds 77 names listed in the 2019 SOFI disclosures as part of the latest report,.

That compares to the 74 names recorded in 2018 and the 69 that were accounted for in 2017.

With 77 names now the new benchmark for 2019, this years report highlights another jump for staff and workers with the city from as recent as 2015.

That year the SOFI report listed 52 municipal employees as making 75,000 dollars or more.

The boost to the reporting lists comes as a number of positions which were created or revived in recent years by the current Council, now continue to cross over that threshold of 75,000 dollars required for the more in depth accounting.

Salaries for 2019 that were provided to those working in the upper level of Civic Administration included:

City Manager Robert Long
Remuneration and Taxable Benefits -- $252,139 
Other remuneration -- $18,414
Training and Related travel expenses -- $27,469
Business Travel and Other expenses -- $20,632
(Salary and Expense amounts make for an increase from last years report)

City Financial Office Corinne Bomben
Remuneration and Taxable Benefits -- $160,622
Training and Travel expenses -- $5,079
Business Travel and Other Expenses -- $4,129
(Salary amount makes a decrease from last years report, expenses remained much the same)

Director of Operations Richard Pucci
Remuneration and Taxable Benefits -- $153,648
Training and Travel Expenses $16,756
Business Travel and Other Expenses -- $49,751
(Salary and Expense amounts make for a significant increase from last years report)

City Planner Zeno Krekic
Remuneration and Taxable Benefits -- $133,380
Training and Travel Expenses $3,406
Business Travel $534
(Salary and Expense amounts at much the same levels  as from last years report)
**Mr. Krekic retired in 2020, the city has not as of yet replaced him in the position

Recreation Director David Geronazzo
Remuneration and Taxable Benefits -- $105,871
Training and Travel Expenses $6,000
Business Travel and Other Expenses -- $1,533
(Expense amounts make for an increase  from last years report)

Manager of Economic Development and Transportation Paul Venditelli
Remuneration and Taxable Benefits -- $102,112
Training and Travel Expenses $6,905
Business Travel and Other Expenses -- $27,688
(Salary and Expense amounts make for an increase  from last years report)

Corporate Administrator Rosa Maria Miller
Remuneration and Taxable Benefits -- $79,726
Training and Travel Expenses $4,731
Business Travel and Other Expenses -- $0
** Ms. Miller joined the city's staff in 2019, the salary and expenses for the position are at a lower level than those posted by former Corporate Administrator Rory Mandryk in 2018

Making for somewhat of an anomaly for the department for 2019, the Deputy Corporate Administrator Antonio Vera earned a salary of $91,901; posting Training expenses of $14,722 and Business travel expenses of $1,483

You compare this years results with those of last year here.

As it is with the expenses review for the elected City Council members; the City does not provide for a larger breakdown of expenses that are claimed by civic employees.

Among the list of 77 names that make for this years list are 19 members of the Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue Department, along with two members of the roster of  911 Fire dispatchers who all are listed as part of the SOFI report for the past year.

The total salaries and expenses from those Fire/Rescue listings accounted for just over 2.4 million dollars for 2019.

The remainder of the positions that are listed from the SOFI report span a number of departments both civic administration and operations.

The total remuneration for employees making over 75,000 dollars in the last year came to $8,320,192 an increase of roughly $600,000 from the year before. 

Those civic employees making less that the $75,000 mark  in 2019 totalled $7,106,131 a decrease of about $107,000 from last year

The list below provides a better understanding of the remuneration pattern over the last decade, with the Total Employee Remuneration and Taxable Benefits noted as follows:

2019 -- $15,615,159
2018 -- $15,076,582
2017 -- $14,210,870
2016 -- $13,563,909
2015 -- $13,575,579
2014 -- $12,708,559
2013 -- $12,305,600
2012 -- $12,884,077
2011 -- $12,409,305
2010 -- $12,099,475

In total the City of Prince Rupert employs approximately 259 full and part time employees and staff members.

The full documentation on Civic salaries can be found as part of the City Council Agenda package  for tonight's session, the listings are published from pages 17 to 30

Not listed as a department, but included as a payment to suppliers is payment of $3,517,780 to the Receiver General for Canada for RCMP E Division. That marks the amount that the City of Prince Rupert pays to the Federal Government for its contract policing agreement with the RCMP.

This years review makes for a slight decrease towards policing from last years report.

Once the Statement of Financial Information report is received by City Council this Monday, it will become part of the permanent record of Financial information that is archived on the city website  offering up an opportunity to make year to year comparisons when it comes to City payroll spending.

You can compare this years notes and amounts above, with those of the past four years from our archive pages below:

2019 (report year 2018)
2018 (report year 2017)
2017 (report year 2016)
2016 (report year 2015)
2015 (report year 2014)
2014 (report year 2013)


The Review of civic compensation is one of a number of reports for Council,  as we review the data from each, you can review the other notes on those below:

City's SOFI Report outlines 2019 compensation and expense totals for Mayor and Council

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.  

To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.

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