Thursday, September 12, 2013

Government Wages something to think about?

In this era of high taxation we often ask the question where are how tax dollars spent, I believe we have a problem in the Crowsnest Pass of an ever increasing bureaucracy both size and cost wise.

The following numbers came from various articles I have read recently in Macleans magazine. A few days from now I will add in the wage ranges for our administration.

Prime Minister of Canada $320,400
Leader of the official opposition $236,900
Leader of the Liberal Party $245,000
Speaker of the house $236,900
Premier of Alberta $217,750
MP's $160,200
MLA's $134,000
Mayor of Calgary $201,839
Mayor of Toronto $172,803
Mayor of Montreal $156,128
Mayor of Vancouver $145,581
Mayor of Edmonton $135,694
CAO MD of Pincher Creek $130,000
CAO Town of Pincher Creek $113,000
CAO Cardston $120,000
CAO County of Lethbridge $200,000
CAO of Coaldale $140,000
CAO of Olds $174,000
CAO of Brooks $196,000
CAO of Nanton $116,000
CAO of Okotoks $213,000
CAO of Stony Plain $169,000

Note: This is why the information above is relevant and I believe that this will become a very big issue during the election. We are not Okotoks, Pincher Creek, Brooks or any where else we have a small tax base and a declining population we must run a lean efficient municipal government and administration.
We have the following in our municipal administration structure:

CAO $180,000 per year 
Directors (3 positions one currently being advertised) $105-120,000 per year
Fire Chief $95,000 per year
Deputy Fire Chief $75-85,000 per year 
Public Works Supt $75-85,000 per year
EDO $100-110 per year
HR position (Part time for now) $45-55,000

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Numbers are boring, everyone knows politics is about personality. People get that glazed look when you hit them with numbers. Promise them some good times if you want votes.

Anonymous said...

Dean on a real issue. Do you know when the consultants report regarding the HR issues at the municipality. Probably be a whole lot more interesting that the municipal inspection.

Anonymous said...

Just wondering what these numbers have to do with us. We already know what mayor and council make here.
Most government wages are out of control, but we can't do anything about it anyways. So reminding people doesn't do much good.
Yes, back to real issues please.

Crowsnest Pass Home said...

In response I do not just put issues on this blog that interest me. A number of my readers have approached me about the issue of what we pay our administrators and how does it compare to politicians/administrators in other areas. For example I was on the phone Monday night with a guy that said to me "I can not believe we are paying our CAO almost as much as Steve Harper makes". Well that is a bit of an exaggeration so this is for those types of readers.
Yes I know numbers are boring but at the end of the day you can have all the dreams you want but if nobody is watching the numbers you are in trouble.
Dollars are always a real issue.

Crowsnest Pass Home said...

9:28

We all know the consultants report is being sat on at the municipal office will they release to the public? I doubt it I'm sure it's not pretty.
I don't even know if the councilors have seen it yet. Maybe there will be a Personnel In Camera this coming week.
I expect they will attempt to keep this from the public until after the election, they will hide behind the wall of privacy.
I also expect they will tell the union we recognize that we have an issue, that is exactly why we are attempting to hire a part time HR position. (Full time after the election with a new budget year in place).

Anonymous said...

Do they have to release the report to the public?