The remuneration of Councillors and should they be paid more ?

An interesting Daily News item last week featuring Bryan Vickery and the remuneration of Councillors (at this link)
https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360606139/councillor-pay-increase-answer-attracting-younger-talent

It’s easy to say let’s increase what Councillors are paid from $53k a year to $80k a year and that should attract some young people to a career option, but do we actually need to increase what all Councillors are paid ?

It’s very easy to say let’s take more money from the ratepayer to find a solution. At the Alliance we are wary of Councillor’s who think throwing more money at an issue is the answer.

According to the NPDC website in 2022, a Councillor with no additional responsibilities, a Councillor who just has to be available 2 days a week, only needs to work around 20 hours a week. (Small image attached to the right).

Also attached is the Government remuneration for New Plymouth elected officials, which has a salary of $56k p.a for a Councillor with no added responsibilities. (Large image attached to the right). What Councillors are to be paid is set by the Government Remuneration Authority.

We also note here that Councillors are self-employed contractors, so they have to file their own tax return, pay their own ACC levies and don’t get sick leave or pay on public holidays. So the pay structure does not suit everyone.

But, if a Councillor just works the minimum 20 hours required and they earn $56k a year, they are on an extremely good salary – that would be the equivalent of $112k p.a full time.

On the other hand, there are some Councillors who are working a considerable number of hours and probably not even earning the equivalent of minimum wage per hour, for the number of hours they actually put in. This would be those who meet with members of the community to help solve issues, go to extra meetings without being paid, speak at after hour events, bring issues to the attention of the community, that type of thing.

Maybe the answer isn’t to pay a person $80k who has the possibility of doing a part time job of 20 hours a week for that income. Maybe the solution is to pay people according to the effort they put in, up to a maximum number of paid hours. In other words, everyone gets the same hourly rate and are remunerated by the number of hours they actually work. (Just like many people in the real world).

The other dynamic happening at the Council, which has also added to the rates intake, is the now non-elected people sitting on committees and getting paid (not project and contract companies but private individuals). Funnily enough these people – and few of us who pay the rates really know who these people are – these people are paid by the hour to prepare for a meeting and to attend a meeting – up to a maximum number of hours they can claim. (The NPDC policy does not mention what the hourly rate is for these roles).

At the Alliance none of us have been offered the opportunity to get paid sitting on a committee for the Council. We’ve not seen an ad asking for experienced ratepayers to have a say in how decisions are made. But some people are getting paid to do that.

The private individuals get paid by the hour, the hard working Councillors get a lump sum no matter how many extra hours they put in. That seems a bit out of balance.

But, being on Council isn’t just about the money that is paid, so throwing $80k at the role rather than $56k at the role doesn’t actually solve much.

Being on Council is about having enough life and financial experience to be able to decide how to vote with the many council services and projects that need to be delivered to your community, and how to do that in a cost effective way, while keeping the rates affordable.

The NPDC is working with budgets heading up to a billion dollars in coming years – our Councillors need to be able to cope with those types of figures, and budgets, and how they relate to the rates we then have to pay.

Yes people need to earn enough for a reasonable standard of living, but mostly being a Councillor is about having the necessary skills, and wanting to do the best you can, to represent your community.

Maybe the solution to the income issue would be to introduce a system which pays Councillors for the effort they put in rather than an annual salary where you choose how many hours you want to work.

Maybe review, and reduce, how many non-elected people are paid to attend committee meetings, and maybe there would be a lot more money in the ratepayer pot to go around.

Trimming the fat from the income budget would be a much better way of finding a solution.

This side of the election, start making a note of the current Councillors whose solutions seem to start with you providing more money to the NPDC through your rates. It will be important to remember who these Councillors are when you go in to vote.