Editorial: Change way council pay increases

Whangarei's mayor Sheryl Mai is embarrassed about pay increases for the district's elected councillors. Photo / John Stone

Whangarei's mayor is embarrassed about pay increases for the district's elected councillors.

But perhaps the Remuneration Authority (RA) - the body that sets the level of the councillors' increase - should be the embarrassed one.

Because it is difficult to understand how, in a district like Whangarei, a 4.9 per cent pay increase is justified for a role that does not stipulate the number of hours required, or review performance. Other than an election every three years. The mayor, the district's highest paid councillor, will receive a 3 per cent increase.

The average annual pay rise settlement for the Engineering, Print and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) is 2.4 per cent. The EPMU is a union that very much represents your "Average Joe".

If Average Joe is getting 2.4 per cent or less, why are the people that Average Joe elected getting double?

It will stick in Average Joe's craw that our elected councillors are getting more money when he faces what could be a 9 per cent rate increase.

And it will stick in his craw that they are earning $46,800 a year for a role that should be demanding, but does not demand a 40-hour week.

For some, their councillor salary is a secondary source of income. In a district where the average income in Whangarei for people aged 15 and over is $22,500. And where only 14.9 per cent of people have an annual income of more than $50,000.

The RA uses a formula that takes into account the councillor's job size, the area's population and council expenditure.

The formula should also take into account the average income of the people that the councillors are representing, and the economy.

Pending the RA coming up with a formula that is less of a joke, councillors should be advised of a pay increase threshold recommendation, rather than being told "this is what you are getting".

The council could then assess and agree on its pay increase, and avoid what Whangarei mayor Sheryl Mai has correctly identified, an embarrassment. There is also an opportunity here for Whangarei's council to lead the way in lobbying the RA to allow councils to set their own increases.

If they are truly embarrassed, then let's see something done.