Auckland mayor's salary to increase to nearly $300K as politicians see big pay rises
Wednesday, 3 April 2019
One Auckland politician will get a 19 per cent pay rise, while the mayor will receive nearly $300,000 by Christmas in a major shake-up of how the region's politicians are paid.
The biggest increases will be for the chairs of the city's southern local boards after a reassessment of their workloads by the Remuneration Authority.
Under a new pay regime to follow October's elections, councillors will also decide how much extra they will be paid on top of a prescribed minimum salary.
All councillors and local board members will get a 2 per cent rise between July and November before the biggest overhaul of political pay in the council's nine-year history.
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One change involves a re-ranking of the 21 second-tier local boards, taking into account not just size, but also the degree of social deprivation.
That has moved the boards in the poorer south up the ranking, with the full-time chairs getting big salary boosts.
The biggest increase is for the chair of the Papakura Local Board, whose salary will rise by 19 per cent – or nearly $15,000 in two steps to reach $91,800 after October's election.
'It's a whopping change, but it recognises the size of the job,' current board chairman Brent Catchpole said.
Catchpole said the previous sizing of the 21 chairs' jobs had been on population alone, meaning some of the smaller or mid-sized ones had been paid less.
'I was surprised but it's not something I sought to increase personally - it's a not a 9 to 5 job, nowhere near it,' Catchpole said.
The chair of the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board will become the highest paid on $99,000 following a two-step rise of 16 per cent, or $13,684.
'I was surprised,' two-term board chair Lemauga Lydia Sosene said.
She had in 2018 written a lengthy outline of her role and work to the authority. The job was a full-time role which she said could run to 60-65 hours a week.
'If you are not driven or passionate to help your community you are probably in the wrong job,' she said.
'You have to go to Governing Body forums, keep up with reports and emails, and you are also expected as chair to front up at community events.'
The third-biggest increase is for the chair of the inner-city Waitematā Local Board, with a 16 per cent, or $13,245, rise to $96,600.
At the other end of the pay rise scale, there is no increase for one local board chair role, that of Howick which had previously been the highest paid on $98,477.
The salary for the country's highest-paid mayor, currently Phil Goff, will rise from $279,562 to reach $296,000 post-election.
In a previous change made by the authority, the mayor's electric car is now deducted from his salary, rather than added to it.
Goff was unavailable for comment.
Things get more complicated for the remaining 20 ward councillors after October.
Currently there are set salaries for the deputy mayor, the chairs of the four main committees, and then the remaining 16 councillors.
From October, all will start off on a basic salary of $106,306, with a pool of money that must be distributed, but apportioned as the councillors see fit to reward those with higher responsibility.
The basic salary from November will be $5300 lower than pre-election, and councillors will have to decide whether to top it up to the previous $111,901.
The new system will raise the cost of paying the mayor and 20 councillors by nearly 11 per cent to $2.5 million a year.
It has yet to be formally signed off.