Victoria city senior staff remain among the top civic earners in the region, according to recently released financial information.
City manager Jason Johnson was the city’s highest paid official with $274,977 in salary and benefits in 2016 and $8,193 in expenses.
Next highest was city solicitor Tom Zworski, at $238,329 in salary and benefits.
Deputy city manager Jocelyn Jenkyns was paid $228,391 in salary and benefits and filed expenses of $19,832.38
Director of finance Susanne Thompson was paid $198,743.
Provincial legislation requires municipalities to list remuneration paid to all employees earning more than $75,000 a year as part of a report called the Statement of Financial Information.
Mayor Lisa Helps said Victoria uses the Capital Regional District, Delta, Kamloops, Nanaimo, Port Coquitlam, North Vancouver District, Saanich and Richmond for comparison when setting senior management salaries.
“So we’re within the 85th percentile of those ones. We don’t compare ourselves with Esquimalt and Oak Bay because they [are smaller and] are not good comparators,” Helps said.
The salary and benefit totals of Johnson, Zworski, Jenkyns and Thompson increased by between 11 and 17 per cent over the previous year. Helps said that reflects payouts for vacation time not used: “It’s not [salary] increases. It’s just one-time vacation payouts.”
The head of Victoria’s Johnson Street Bridge project, who is not a city employee, billed more than $300,000 for his services in 2016.
Jonathan Huggett, brought in as a consultant in 2014 after the project’s contractor submitted a change order for an extra $7.9 million to complete the “fixed price” project, was paid $303,087 for his services last year.
Huggett is not listed with other employees earning more than $75,000 a year. Instead, the amount paid to him appears in the Statement of Financial Information accounts paid section under JR Huggett Co.
Helps said Huggett’s total includes things such as disbursements for flights. “It’s still taxpayer money, but all of those other things are included in that $300,000.”
In total, salary and benefits paid to 56 Victoria non-union staff totalled $7,117,067 in 2016.
Salary and benefits paid to Victoria Fire Department employees making more than $75,000 totalled $12,420,684.
In all, remuneration paid to those in the city (union and exempt staff) earning more than $75,000 totalled $29,527,095. For those earning less than $75,000, the total was $28,599,970.
Saanich
Saanich’s top earner was chief administrative officer Paul Thorkelsson, who was paid $249,828 and filed $7,517 in expenses in 2016.
Saanich was still paying a salary to former chief administrative officer Paul Murray, who was listed in Saanich’s Statement of Financial Information as receiving $124,019 in remuneration from Saanich in 2016.
Murray left Saanich’s employ, with a severance package estimated at $480,000, days after the 2014 election after a private meeting with mayor-elect Richard Atwell. Saanich councillors issued a statement saying Murray and the district had “mutually agreed” to part company.
In Saanich, the 59 exempt staff are listed as earning a combined $7,269,396 and filing a combined $105,097 in expenses.
The total for Saanich CUPE employees making more than $75,000 was $3,895,306.
The total for the Saanich Fire Department was $11,903,097. The total payroll for those earning $75,000 or more was $23,067,799 and for those earning less than $75,000 was $36,284,807.
Esquimalt
The top earner in 2016 was chief administrative officer Laurie Hurst, who was paid $190,284 in salary and filed expenses of $3,556.
Esquimalt lists 47 employees making more than $75,000 a year, for a total of $5,113,013. Of those, 27 are emergency services employees working with the fire department, who were paid a total of $3,694,096.
Oak Bay
Chief administrative officer Helen Koning is listed as earning $174,063 in 2016, with $2,748 in expenses.
Oak Bay’s top earner was deputy fire chief Don Roskelley, earning $184,593 with expenses of $1,221 in 2016. The total salaries paid to 44 Oak Bay employees making more than $75,000 a year is $5,448,281. Of those, 26 are with the fire department, and are paid a combined $3,658,199.
None of the totals for any of the municipalities include police salaries or benefits.
