The number of municipal employees earning a six-figure salary almost doubled in two North Shore municipalities last year and decreased in another.
According to recently released 2013 financial statements, the number of District of West Vancouver employees earning a six-figure salary increased from around 66 in 2012 to approximately 104 in 2013, and the City of North Vancouver saw a rise in six-figure incomes from 35 in 2012 to around 71 in 2013.
While the number of employees earning $100,000-plus salaries in the District of North Vancouver decreased in 2013, the number of people who received $200,000 or more in annual salary doubled.
Jeff McDonald, communications director for the District of West Vancouver, said some of the increase is attributable to staff who only worked part of the year in 2012 and did not earn their full salaries, so they appear on the 2013 list.
"The majority of the increase is due to retroactive salary, resulting from the settlement of new contracts, added to 2013 salaries," said McDonald. "This means a number of the staff who earned above six figures in 2013 would drop back down to five figures in 2014."
In 2012, there were approximately 194 employees in all three municipalities combined that earned a six-figure salary, but a year later that figure jumped to more than 250 employees.
"Year-to-year comparisons can be deceiving since remuneration is impacted by payments related to retroactive salary adjustments and vacation payouts in 2013," said Connie Rabold, communications manager for the City of North Vancouver.
Rabold points out that according the Statement of Financial Information, or SOFI, city employees' salaries in 2013 exceeded their base pay because of "vacation payouts and labour contract settlements," including the IAFF Local 296 Firefighters union, which had an impact on the number of employees earning a six-figure salary.
"The IAFF 2010 to 2012 collective agreement was ratified in December 2012," said Rabold. "And retroactive (pay) was paid in 2013 for the years 2010, 2011."
Each of the mayors saw an increase last year in salaries as well. West Van Mayor Michael Smith earned almost $78,000, North Van City Mayor Darrell Mussatto more than $95,000 and North Van District Mayor Richard Walton more than $97,000. City of North Vancouver council was the biggest spender out of the three municipal councils, racking up more than $39,000 in expenses, while North Vancouver District spent less than half of that, at almost $14,000, and West Vancouver council spent less than $7,800 cumulatively.
The highest paid municipal employees in North Vancouver included Brian Bydwell, general manager of planning, properties and permits, at $201,372; Gavin Joyce, general manager of engineering, parks and facilities, at $202,108, and chief administrative officer David Stuart, at $259,540,at the district. Ken Tollstam, CAO for the city, was also at the top of the list, earning $290,926.
City fire chief Dan Pistilli earned $186,741 last year, up from his 2012 salary of about $139,000, while district fire chief Victor Penman earned a total of $221,924, up from the previous year's $171,520. West Van's fire chief, James Cook, earned more than $173,000, up from his previous salary of about $167,000.
Policing services in North Vancouver District cost more than $11.8 million, while West Van's was less, at $9.7 million. Although 2013 police earnings have not been posted due to legal proceedings between the RCMP and the federal government regarding 2009 and 2010 pay raises, the city did receive almost $3.8 million from North Vancouver District for the district's share of police operating and capital costs.
