It’s 50 pages long, will soon be open for public comment and it outlines everything the City of Armstrong has done over the last year and what it’s planning to do now and in the future.
The city has released its 2015 annual report on its website (cityofarmstrong.bc.ca).
“There’s really good information on planning, where we spend the community’s money and how we allocate the money,” said Mayor Chris Pieper, who is aware that the public scrutinizes one page of the annual report, the one that shows council’s remuneration and expenses.
In 2015, the mayor and council made just under $115,000 total.
Pieper topped the list with a salary of $22,222 and claimed $3,674 in expenses for a total of $25,896. Expenses generally come from travelling to main conventions, the Southern Interior Local Government Association (SILGA) and the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM).
Each of the six councillors earned $12,645 with Shirley Fowler topping the list of expenses with $4,329.
“We car-shared to UBCM with councillor (Linda) Werner and councillor (Lance) McGregor,” said Fowler. “I took the vehicle and all those travel expenses became part of my total.
“I also earned a cash payment for a 10-year service award and that is included in my total.”
McGregor and Werner served their first full year in office and claimed $3,572 and $4,146, respectively, in expenses, while fellow newbie Steven Drapala, a high school administrator, only claimed $300, as did veteran councillors Paul Britton and the late Ron (Sully) O’Sullivan.
“Some councillors can’t go to conferences because of work commitments or whatever, so they have no expenses,” said Pieper.
The city must also include employees who make $75,000 or more (including expenses) in the report, and there were seven employees on that list.
Chief administrative officer Melinda Stickney is the highest paid employee with $130,387 in salary. She also claimed $7,353 in expenses for a total of $137,740.
In total, those seven employees made $642,560 and claimed $14,737 in expenses for a total of $657,297.
All other employees with the city, combined, made $311,155 and $772 in expenses.
Total staff remuneration for 2015 was $953,715 with $15,609 in expenses for a total of $969,324.
The public can make comments on the report at the next regular council meeting, slated for June 27.