Lobbyists release names and photos of top-earning Auckland Council executives
Sunday, 3 May 2020
An Auckland ratepayers' lobby group has released names and photos of 85 Auckland council executives it believes earn more than $250,000.
The Taxpayers' Union and its sister entity the Auckland Ratepayers Alliances have been working on the list since late last year, but the council has said it is inaccurate and includes personal information.
'If someone is paid more than a Government Minister, ratepayers should at the very least know who they are and what they do,' said the Alliance's spokesperson Jo Holmes.
The council and five agencies provided the group with either job titles or position descriptions, and salaries only in ranges of $50,000 in line with a past ruling from the Ombudsman on how much personal detail should be revealed.
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'Twenty-four of the rich listers are employees of Auckland Transport, 11 are from Watercare, six are from Regional Facilities Auckland, five are from ATEED, and five are from Panuku Development,' said the alliance.
The council and its five agencies annually publish the number of employees earning more than $100,000, grouped in bands of $20-50,000.
The group's 'Auckland Town Hall Rich List' has simply taken the mid-point of salary ranges provided to it, then attached a name and a photo of the person they believe holds that roles.
Several of those on the list no longer work for the council.
The group emailed the executives directly to get the extra level of detail but Stuff understands none offered any.
'We object to you targeting specific Council group employees and pressuring them to release their personal information,' wrote council chief executive Stephen Town to the Taxpayers' Union last month.
The ratepayers' alliance late last week fund-raised nearly $12,000 for what it said would be a paid double-page spread in a Sunday newspaper, but no advertisement has appeared.
It now hopes to publish an advertisement of the list with photos 'as double-page newspaper adverts across Auckland' this week, according to its media release.
The production of the list comes as the Taxpayers' Union/Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance, campaigns nationwide for local bodies to freeze rates, recognising the impact on property owners of Covid-19.
The council chief executive, along with the chief executives and chairs of the major agencies have voluntarily taken a 20 per cent pay cut for six months, with tier two executives and board directors taking a 10 per cent cut, in response to Covid-19 financial pressure on public budgets.
The Taxpayers' Union hoped to produce council 'rich lists' covering the rest of the country.
In the Auckland list, it included the mayor Phil Goff, who earns $296,000, among the list of 'staff'.
It noted 48 executives earn more than the mayor, and eight earn more than the Prime Minister's $471,000 salary.
The alliance made a comparison between Auckland Council, and a local body in the United Kingdom, serving a similar population.
'Essex County Council, pays 28 staff salaries higher than NZ$250,000, compared to Auckland Council's 86,' it said.
However Essex County Council does not include metropolitan areas, and has an infrastructure spend one-tenth the size of Auckland, with many of its roles being to fund health and social services delivered by other entities or local bodies.
The full disclosures from Auckland Council, and three CCOs to the Taxpayers' Union have been published on the council's website.