Bayside councillors vote for above inflation pay rise
BAYSIDE councillors have voted to give themselves an above-inflation pay rise.
Southern Courier
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BAYSIDE councillors have voted to give themselves an above-inflation pay rise.
The 2.5 per cent increase was unanimously voted through at the council meeting on Wednesday without debate. Speaking after the meeting mayor Bill Saravinovski said he was comfortable with the rise and said it would help attract the best people for the job.
The Local Government Remuneration Tribunal sets limits on how much councillors can be paid. To calculate this they first put the councils in one of eight groups depending on their size.
For each group — which ranges from rural to principal CBD — there is a minimum and maximum amount councillors can be paid.
Bayside’s category has a minimum annual salary of $13,480 and a maximum of $25,160. It is up to councillors to decide how much in that range they should be paid.
The tribunal also decides on a maximum percentage which councillors can increase their pay — which is this year set at 2.5 per cent.
Bayside councillors are paid the maximum rate in their category and councillors have decided to give themselves the maximum 2.5 per cent increase.
A tribunal spokeswoman said the 2.5 per cent rise is only required of those councils paying the minimum in their range.
The rise is not only above national inflation (1.9 per cent) but also above Sydney inflation (2.1 per cent). Councillors’ pay will increase from $24,550 to $25,160. Cr Saravinovski receives an additional $66,860 — giving him a total of $92,020.
“We have adopted the recommendation from the independent panel,” he said. “We want to try and attract the best people. We are a $200 million business. My colleagues, they are away from their families a lot so I am comfortable with the decision.”
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