Auckland Council agency Panuku paid $451,000 to staff in bonuses
Friday, 11 October 2019
Dozens of staff at Auckland Council's development agency Panuku have been paid bonuses totalling $451,000 - a practice which the mayor Phil Goff said should end.
Panuku said the payments to 38 staff were part of its 'reward philosophy and framework' initiated by the agency's own executive team and approved by its board in 2017.
The payments were on top of base salaries in an organisation where the chief executive Roger MacDonald is paid more than $640,000, and the other nine top executives earn between $230,000 and $520,000, figures which include bonuses.
Panuku's chair since November 2018, Adrienne Young-Cooper, told Stuff the agency would not itemise the amounts paid, due to privacy grounds.
**READ MORE:
* Phil Goff's first election policy: Review Auckland Council agencies
* Auckland Panuku boss claims 'no memory' of invite for helicopter flight to superyacht
* Serious Fraud Office rejects Auckland Council fraud complaint but flags luxury trip
* Auckland Council's former HQ sold for $3m, sparking SFO complaint**
The agency's annual reports show its CEO's total salary rose by around $80,000, including a bonus, in 2017/2018.
'Panuku had a number of gateways that needed to be achieved for the chief executive to receive a performance recognition payment,' said Young-Cooper in a statement to Stuff.
The 'gateways' or Key Performance Indicators for MacDonald were not published, but Young-Cooper said they had included delivering a budget surplus, and securing funding for Panuku's projects in the council's Ten Year Budget.
'The organisation's targets were all met for the 2017/18 year and confirmed by the Panuku Board,' she said.
Panuku has the equivalent of 223 full-time staff and is tasked with developing key council properties such as the Wynyard Quarter, and town centres due for revitalisation such as Northcote, Henderson and Manukau, and selling surplus council property.
The mayor, Phil Goff, on his final day in office, was not available for interview by Stuff, but in a statement said he wanted the practice to end.
'I've asked staff to look at how that can be stopped and to provide legal advice on that,' said Goff.
Both Goff, and his main mayoral rival John Tamihere have promised a review of the Auckland Council cluster of 'council controlled agencies' (CCOs).
'I am not in favour of performance recognition pay – and I intend it to be part of the CCO review,' said Goff.
Young-Cooper said 'minor amendments' to the scheme this year had been approved by the board, but the details were not provided to Stuff.
Panuku's performance payment regime was promoted by the agencies executive in 2017, following the arrival of the current CEO Roger MacDonald from the United Kingdom.
Among the council's other CCOs, the largest, Auckland Transport said it paid no bonuses.
Regional Facilities Auckland said only one executive received a bonus, due to an employment contract based on commercial outcomes, the others had not been able to confirm by publication time, whether they had executive performance schemes.