Palmerston council have voted for a pay rise for themselves

PALMERSTON Council alderman have voted themselves a pay rise at Tuesday night’s meeting, which will see an increase to their total allowances

Mayor Athina Pascoe-Bell poses said some aldermen said they will just donate (their pay rise) to the community. Picture: Keri Megelus

PALMERSTON elected members voted in favour of a pay rise at Tuesday night’s meeting, which will see an increase of 2.2 per cent to their total allowances.

Mayor Athina Pascoe-Bell could earn up to almost $114,000, up from $111,420 last year while the deputy, mayor, a revolving position, will have a maximum of $41,718.

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Sarah Henderson said council members had worked hard. PICTURE: KERI MEGELUS

Alderman could earn up to $25,156, including their base allowance, electoral allowance and professional development allowances.

Acting mayor Sarah Henderson said while not all elected members were in favour of a pay rise, she thought they had a strong first year as council.

“We’ve all worked hard this year,” she said.

“We’d had a lot of discussion on it earlier in a workshop so we knew who was for it and who was against it actually. Some of them have said they will just donate (their pay rise) to people around the community.

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The wages of the aldermen could cost ratepayers more than $306,000 if all allowances are used.

Council last year declined the pay rise, saying they had only been in the position for a month when making the decision and needed to earn the community’s trust before accepting a pay rise.

Council’s municipal plan was passed unchanged, with responses to be provided to the five people who made submissions after a 28 day consultation period.

It means rates will rise by up to $30 per household, with waste service charges being dropped by $20.

Two thirds of Palmerston households will increase by just $10 for the year, or 19c a week, while most other properties will go up by less than $1 a week.

Mayor Athina Pascoe-Bell attended the meeting via teleconferencing and took part in Tuesday’s meeting but left mayoral duties to the deputy mayor.