Townsville City councillors get pay increase from July 1 after not voting to reject the changes

Townsville councillors and suspended Mayor Troy Thompson will get a little extra cash in the bank each month after a state-wide pay rise was implemented from today. See how much.

Townsville City councillors will receive a pay rise on July 1.

Townsville councillors – including suspended Mayor Troy Thompson – will have a bump in their pay check from July 1 as a state-wide raise comes into effect.

Last year, a Local Government Remuneration Commission report released recommended members of Queensland councils outside of Brisbane receive a pay rise.

This was then signed off by Local Government Minister Ann Leahy in December.

Councils across the state then had the chance to vote not to adopt the changes before July 1, which would otherwise be automatically added on.

Townsville City Council did not choose to vote on the matter, with the pay rise automatically adopted.

In the last financial year, Townsville councillors were paid about $130,000, the deputy mayor about $145,000 and the mayor was paid $225,000.
A pay rise of 2.5 per cent will see the Mayor’s pay increase to $230,836, the Deputy Mayor to $156,974 and councillors to $138,501.

When asked in January, Townsville’s Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney said she would not be voting for a pay rise.

Mayor Troy Thompson. Townsville City Council meeting on Wednesday. Picture: Shae Beplate.

After the announcement, suspended mayor Troy Thompson took to Facebook on January 23 to say he would have voted against the increase if given the chance.

“If it is voted in, I will donate the extra weekly amount to a community organisation,” he said in a post.

“Personally, I believe we should not be paid extra in a cost of living crisis.”

When asked by the Townsville Bulletin on Monday Mr Thompson confirmed he would also be receiving a pay rise as a result of the council’s actions.

He said he would be sticking to his word to donate the extra money, and that he was “disappointed” the councillors did not pause the pay increase through a special meeting last week.

“I will be supporting local organisations, clubs and charities each pay cycle with the difference in my net pay,” he said.

He said the councillors should not be accepting the increase in pay and should follow his lead and donate the extra money to charity.

Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney at The Rockpool on The Strand. Picture: Supplied

“My preference is that no councillor should be recieving increases, during this cost-of-living period,” he said.

“It is disappointing that all councillors are to receive these rises, and the executive have had large increases when our hardworking staff must fight for what they deserve, particularly with executive salaries being bloated out of proportion.”

“I fear we will lose our much-needed skilled workers.”

When Cr Greaney took on the role of Acting Mayor, she opted not to receive extra pay, so she will continue to be paid at the councillor rate.

Townsville councillors were recommended by the report to have a pay rise of 2.5 per cent, adding a few thousand more dollars to their salaries.

The reason listed in the report for the pay increase was “recently challenging and unstable inflationary environment and measures taken by other government authorities to manage the impacts of inflation”.

The Townsville City Council declined to comment.

Originally published as Townsville City councillors get pay increase from July 1 after not voting to reject the changes