The City of Victoria paid $2.475 million in severance to 26 senior managers between 2013 and 2016, which has raised the ire of a local taxpayers’ association.
“This is a big number,” said Stan Bartlett, chairman of Grumpy Taxpayer$ of Greater Victoria.
“I would suggest the council might want to look at their severance package policy with the view of making it a bit less generous and a little more in line with what the average taxpayer makes.”
The calculation of the total came after the departure of city manager Jason Johnson, who was given 12 months of salary — $223,459 — plus benefits after 31Ú2 years on the job. No reason has been given for Johnson’s departure.
The City of Victoria released the severance figures to the Times Colonist in response to a statement by the watchdog organization, which said the city paid an estimated $3 million in severance for the 26 non-union employees who retired, quit or were fired between 2013 and 2016.
That amounts to almost 20 years of compensation for one person, Bartlett said. He said his figure was based on an average senior manager salary of $120,000, and the City of Victoria said that number is inaccurate.
“This high rate of attrition is not unusual in the corporate world, but must be questioned when it happens in the public sector because of its impact on taxpayers,” Bartlett said.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said the severances in senior manager contracts are set in accordance with common law and protect the city against litigation after someone is let go. This standard helps public employers determine the amount of notice or pay in lieu of notice that is required if an employee is fired without cause.
Helps said she does not think the number of departures is out of the ordinary when looked at on a year-over-year basis. She pointed out that Johnson eliminated four senior manager positions, which saved the city $500,000 a year.
Within months of Johnson’s hiring in 2014, Victoria’s director of finance resigned, followed closely by the directors of parks, human resources and legislative services.
Bartlett questioned whether the city has saved half a million dollars in salaries, pointing out that the city hired people in other non-union positions.
In 2015, total compensation for non-unionized staff was $5.7 million and in 2016, non-union salaries amounted to $6.4 million. Both figures do not include taxable benefits and payouts.
Bartlett said incomes are not rising fast enough to keep pace with the tax burden, which is why taxpayers he’s talked to are unhappy with the amount spent on severances.
“People don’t mind paying taxes, but we want value for our taxes. We want to see a culture of frugality,” he said.
