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City releases draft annual report on salaries, expenses

The City of Cranbrook has released a draft annual financial document that municipalities must submit to the provincial government containing information on council and employee salaries as well as payments for goods and services.
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The City of Cranbrook has released a draft annual financial document that municipalities must submit to the provincial government containing information on council and employee salaries as well as payments for goods and services.

The 2019 Statement of Financial Information report include unaudited schedules of remuneration, plus expenses, for mayor and council, non-union employees who earn over $75,000 and a list of suppliers who provided over $25,000 worth of goods and services to the city.

The report must be approved by council and staff before submission to the province before June 30.

The mayor’s remuneration was $65,000, with expenses of $6,630, while annual councillor remuneration was $24,600 with total expenses of $22,388. All told, $204,047 was spent on mayor and councillor salaries with $29,018 in expenses and $30,430 in benefits.

Last year, Council voted to raise salaries, topping up what would have been lost following changes made by the federal government that removed an exemption of personal income tax for municipal elected officials.

READ: Council tweaks salary rates, blame changes made by feds

The city reports 59 employees with remuneration over $75,000. Total remuneration for employees —both of whom earn over and under the $75,000 threshold — comes out at $12.5 million, along with $297,019 in expenses. The city also provided $3.2 million as part of its share of employer benefits.

Additionally, the city reports two severance agreements were made between the municipal corporation and two non-union employees which represented 16 months of compensation. The dollar amount of those severance agreements was not disclosed.

For suppliers, the city reports that it spent $42 million on goods and services exceeding $25,000 and $3 million to suppliers for goods and services under the $25,000 threshold.

Large payments include typical payments to entities such as the Canada Revenue Agency ($3.3 million), Ministry of Finance - school tax ($1.8 million), Municipal Finance Authority ($2 million), Municipal Pension Plan ($2.1 million), Regional District of East Kootenay ($2.1 million) and more.

Other large ticket items include a $1 million payment to Rayonier for the first of three instalments for the city’s purchase of the former Tembec industrial lands, as well as $1.2 million to New Dawn Development, which was awarded the contract to fix various roofing structures at Western Financial Place last fall.

Mackay Contracting received $1.8 million and Terus Construction received $2.5 million from the city for completing infrastructure projects associated with the 2019 Capital Roads program.

The city also made a $65,000 payment to George Cuff and Associates. George Cuff was the consultant who authored a governance audit at city hall, which identified issues such as loss of trust in and amongst council while detailing some human resources issues on the administrative side of operations.

READ: Report sheds new light on Cranbrook city hall

That report was completed last fall and released in February following a Freedom of Information request by the Townsman.

RDEK also releases draft annual financial statement

The Regional District of East Kootenay has also released a draft report of the same Statement of Financial Information.

Remuneration for board directors vary from $55,000 to less than $1,000. All told, $454,000 was paid out for remuneration of board directors for both the RDEK and the Kootenay East Regional Hospital District, with $25,000 tallied for expenses.

For employee remuneration, $2.1 million went to 22 employees earning over $75,000, while $3.3 million was earmarked for employees making under the $75,000 threshold.

The total 2019 RDEK payroll comes out to $6.4 million.

Total public accounts for suppliers providing goods and services over $25,000 value comes out to $22 million.



trevor.crawley@cranbrooktownsman.com

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Trevor Crawley

About the Author: Trevor Crawley

Trevor Crawley has been a reporter with the Cranbrook Townsman and Black Press in various roles since 2011.
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