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Compulsory Pay Rise for West Coast Regional Councillors
West Coast Regional Councillors are getting a hefty pay rise this term — whether they like it or not.
The new rates set by the Remuneration Authority mean a councillor's pay goes up from $36,000 a year before the election, to $51,000.
Image: Google Maps
The Authority has decreed the chairman must be paid $83,000 and a pool of $317,737 must be allocated to the other six positions.
By law there is no option to take less: the only decision left for councillors to make on the subject at yesterday's meeting was how much to pay the deputy chairman, who heads the council's Resource Management Committee.
The council agreed on a relativity of 75% of the chairman's remuneration, pushing the deputy's pay up from $42,000 last term to $62,000.
Corporate Services Manager Robert
Mallinson said he knew some councillors were deeply
uncomfortable about their pay rise but by law they had no
choice in the
matter.
Local Democracy Reporting
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