Council pay rose $48,000 last year

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This article was published 07/08/2024 (454 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The 11 members of Brandon City Council earned a collective $374,839.09 in salary and other compensation last year, according to the city’s annual disclosure report.

The total figure represents an increase of $48,454.61 from 2022 and an increase of $61,485.95 from 2021.

Manitoba’s Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Act requires the province, government agencies and publicly funded bodies like municipalities and universities to report annually how much it pays out to board members, officers and elected officials, as well as employees who make an annual salary of $85,000 or more. Before 2023, the threshold for employees was $75,000.

The city’s report, released last month, shows three columns for each person whose compensation is disclosed: the regular salary, other compensation and total compensation.

Other compensation includes “allowances, overtime payments, retirement or severance payments, vacation or other payouts, retroactive earnings and taxable benefits.”

Brandon’s report for 2023 shows Mayor Jeff Fawcett leading the pack among council members with $111,953.94 in total compensation. That’s an increase of $74,820.65 from 2022, when he earned $37,133.29. However, Fawcett spent all but November and December of that year as a city councillor before being elected as mayor.

Coun. Glen Parker (Ward 9) — who is also deputy mayor — earned $31,843.83.

The rest of council earned less than $30,000 each in total compensation:

• Coun. Shawn Berry (Ward 7): $26,854.92,

• Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Ward 2): $26,564,82,

• Coun. Greg Hildebrand (Ward 5): $25,884.86,

• Coun. Jason Splett (Ward 8): $25,374.86,

• Coun. Shaun Cameron (Ward 4): $25,374.82,

• Coun. Barry Cullen (Ward 3): $25,374.56,

• Coun. Heather Karrouze (Ward 1): $25,204.86,

• Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6): $25,204.86 and

• Coun. Tyson Tame (Ward 10): $25,204.86.

By email, Brandon’s director of finance, Troy Tripp, said there are two reasons for the extra expenses. The first is that councillor pay is tied to the consumer price index as it stood on Oct. 31 of the previous year. In 2023, that led to a 6.91 per cent pay increase.

The second reason is that in 2022, former Ward 8 Coun. Ron Brown was on a medical leave of absence until that fall’s election. Brown was not collecting a salary, reducing overall council compensation.

When it comes to city staff, 226 people met the threshold for their salaries to be disclosed.

City manager Ron Bowles, who is leaving at the end of the month to take a job in British Columbia, was the highest earner at $222,095.17. That’s up almost $15,000 from the $207,169.82 Bowles earned in 2022.

The city does not disclose the name of police officers on the list. However, it is possible to guess their identities based on the provided job description.

The second-highest earner on the city’s payroll is listed as “Police Chief (Acting)” at $186,766.20. Randy Lewis became acting chief after the retirement of previous chief Wayne Balcaen.

“Police Chief (Retired)” Balcaen made $172,917.04. That ranks as the fourth-highest earner on the list.

The officer making the most after the two chiefs is “Police Deputy Chief (Acting)” — Greg Hebert. He made $163,744.52 in 2023.

An unnamed police inspector made $156,359.42 while an unnamed police sergeant made $155,772.06 and an unnamed police staff sergeant made $157,533.47.

The third-highest salary went to Brandon Fire and Emergency Services Chief Terry Parlow, who made $186,697.27. Parlow was promoted from deputy chief to chief in April, following the retirement of previous chief Scott McDonald, who made $87,332.07 last year.

Parlow is set to become acting city manager as of Aug. 8 so he can fill the role after Bowles’ departure while Brandon searches for a permanent successor.

His two deputy chiefs, Jason Potter and Marc Lefebvre, made $165,435.40 and $163,656.18 respectively.

Among staff not with emergency services, high earners include general manager of development services Mark Allard ($148,616.51), general manager of operations Patrick Pulak ($150,661.15) and director of human resources Linda Poole ($150,236.36)

Speaking to the Sun on Tuesday afternoon, Fawcett said he thinks Brandon is getting good bang for its buck when it comes to its staff.

“There’s a lot of people that say you do not compensate some staff well enough because the private sector can compete with a lot,” Fawcett said.

“Then you’ll find lots of people that say if you’re with the city, then you’re getting more than enough compensation. We always are trying to find that balance. Our biggest issue, though, is actually have a full staff.”

He added that the job opening for the new permanent city manager position could be posted as early as Wednesday.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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