Central Coast council pay rise: Councillors vote for 6 per cent increase
On one side, councillors said a pay rise brought them up to speed with other large councils, while others said they couldn’t possibly accept a pay rise in the current climate.
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Central Coast Councillors have voted for a pay rise, describing it as a “reclassification” in line with other large councils.
The decision divided councillors at last night’s meeting, with some saying they couldn’t possibly accept a pay rise in the current COVID-19 climate and others saying councillors didn’t get paid enough for their role.
The six per cent pay rise for councillors results in an annual pay of $32,040, while the mayor has a 10 per cent pay rise bringing her annual pay to $99,800. The mayoral fee also includes the councillors pay and, after transferring a portion to the deputy mayor, comes to an annual pay of $121,860. The deputy mayor’s pay will rise to $42,020.
The rise is in line with the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal decision to upgrade Central Coast Council to Major Strategic Area status with pay brackets in line with Newcastle and Wollongong councils.
The council has been fighting for an upgraded status for years, being the third largest council in NSW. Central Coast was previously in a category with Lake Macquarie Council.
The Tribunal recommended a minimum and maximum pay bracket, with council voting for the maximum increase.
Mayor Lisa Matthews said the issue stems back to the council merge when a lot of councils were underclassified.
“Councillors were doing more work, with the larger area, and it needed to be reclassified,” she said. “We shouldn’t be in a category with Cessnock.”
Cr Louise Greenaway questioned whether individual councillors had the ability not to accept a pay rise, however staff indicated they would all be paid the same amount.
Cr Greg Best tried to pass a vote to keep the pay at the 2019/20 level, saying not only council but many people and businesses were facing “the hardest ever financial crisis”.
“For councillors to accept the notion of some kind of increase is a bridge too far,” he said.
“Other corporations have had significant reductions in the top salary group. At the end of the day someone has got to pay for this … and we are collecting $335m in rates.”
Cr Bruce McLachlan said while he would normally support a pay rise in line with the new classification, he couldn’t vote for it.
“With COVID-19 I just don’t think we can go to the community and say we are going to accept pay increase,” he said.
However Cr Chris Holstein disagreed and said the current councillor pay was “woeful”. “Remuneration for councillors is woeful, particularly looking at other states,” he said.
“This isn’t a pay rise. It’s a reclassification that reflects the roles and responsibilities. It’s a huge responsibility.”
He said last financial year he attended 131 meetings, 86 events and 50 zoom meetings.
“The pay rise works out at about $30 more a week,” he said. “If you feel bad about it donate it. You never enter council for a financial return.”
Cr Doug Vincent said the increase did not send the right message.
“I feel uneasy. The fact is whether you call it a reclassification or imposed increase, we are looking at increasing to the top of the scale in the review,” he said.
“At a time when community doing it hard, when staff are taking a hit with hours they work, ratepayers struggling to pay bills, for us to be increasing mayoral positions by 10 per cent and councillor remuneration it’s not a good look.
“It’s not the right message, it’s not leadership.”
Central Coast Parliamentary Secretary Adam Crouch described the move as “unbelievable”.
“It’s unbelievable that in the middle of a pandemic, Labor and Greens-aligned councillors would award themselves a pay rise,” he said.
“I wrote to the Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal on May 21 in my capacity as the NSW Government Whip and made it crystal clear that the government would reject any proposed pay rises for MPs.
“COVID-19 has touched every aspect of our society and affected every sector and industry. “Councillors should be less focused on their own salaries and more focused on helping our community recover from COVID-19.”