Tag Archives: dawson

Is a 167K salary + benefits too much for a small town Chief Administrative officer?

General, , ,

As far as I can see it appears as if our City Manager (CAO) and Senior Financial Officer (SFO) are doing a reasonable job of tending to the business of running our town. Although, some have said that their bedside manner might need some tweaking. Once you see their salary scale you might need a compassionate hand to mop your brow as you recover from a heart attack.

This brings me to the question of compensation for these and other Dawson management positions. The bylaw defining the wage and benefit structure for these jobs defines the different management levels and salaries that was passed by council last November. http://cityofdawson.com/download/11-20_Mgmt_Empl_Bylaw.pdf

By my reckoning I can’t help but think that some of these radically increased wages from what they were a little over two years ago are much too rich for a small town like ours.

Being the highest position within the city the CAO top wage is $126,790. Next year (2013) it will be increased to$129,643.

In 2009 the CAO commanded a top salary of around $90,000

The Senior Financial Officer was around $50,000 to $60,000 and now commands over $100,000.

But wait, it gets better.

The bylaw also allows for a yearly sum of $3,200 as a kind of Isolated Post Allowance for family travel away from Dawson. It also allows for matching contributions to an RRSP of up to 8% of the annual salary. In this case, if fully drawn it would represent 10,371.44. These perks are available to all managers.

So, now we’re up to $143,214.44 annually for the top salary.

It still gets better.  A town councilor told me that the CAO’s housing is provided rent free minus the utilities but probably is off the hook for property taxes and water and sewer. I think a conservative valuation of rent for this house could be $2,000 per month for a total of $24,000 annually.

Factoring in this amount brings the total wages and benefits package of the CAO to $167,214.44.

Is it just me or does this seem excessive for a town of 1400 and approximately 500 rate payers?

Let me be clear, although I’m not critiquing our current CAO or any other manager – although, God knows that if anyone deserves a raise it would be the Public Works Foreman – I am calling into question mayor and council’s judgement regarding the overall wage scale for managers for a small town like ours.

Could it be that the recent across the board increase on our property taxes is helping pay for these across the board salary raises?

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A Case of Entitlement?

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Some business owners are ineligible to vote at city or town council elections because their principal residence is out of town. With support from various Chambers of Commerce a few of these people are now suggesting that because they pay municipal taxes and rates through their business it should qualify them for a voice at the polls during municipal election time.

The obvious solution to this problem? Move back to town, problem solved!

Of course, what they fail to mention is that while they enjoy their country lifestyle far from the maddening crowd, the taxes they save in a rural setting offsets much of what they pay in town for their business. Rural property assessments and tax rates represent a fraction of the burden placed on a comparable property in an urban setting.

Ultimately, it boils down to a personal choice based on evaluating all the pros and cons, recognizing that the right to vote municipally is surrendered by choosing to live outside the boundaries.

If we are going to decide who can vote according to who pays municipal taxes or not, doesn’t this establish a dangerous precedent? Is the corollary to this the withdrawal of voting rights to those within a municipality that don’t directly pay city taxes?

If we are going to advocate for all inclusive community participation in municipal affairs then shouldn’t we consider all citizens and not just a few malcontent business owners?

Perhaps a revision to the Municipal Act could establish something akin to townships within the Yukon.

A township is a district associated with a town or a city that does not necessarily involve expansion of boundaries or change the status quo for rural residents.

Those living within a defined area surrounding a town or city would be allowed to vote and run in municipal elections just as they do in other parts of Canada today. Residency and citizenship requirements would remain the same.

To the Chambers of Commerce advocating for absentee business owner voting privileges I would urge you to also consider the people, both in town and out, that support the businesses you represent and do try to be a little less self serving.

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