How did Mayor Rick Green鈥檚 salary take such a huge jump after he was elected?
The answer lies in a resolution passed by a previous council many years ago. It uses a formula comparing the salaries of mayors and councillors in municipalities of similar size.
That formula raised Green鈥檚 salary to $93,962 in 2009, the first full year of his term. His salary was almost $30,000 higher than the last full year in former mayor Kurt Albert鈥檚 term.
Albert鈥檚 predecessor, John Scholtens, grossed approximately $50,000 in his last full year as mayor.
The formula for pay increases for mayor and council is reviewed every January where increases would be automatic unless a majority of council rules otherwise.
The calculations are made every three years, and the one for January, 2012 will be published on Dec. 15, 10 days after the new council is sworn in to office.
There is no formula, however, to determine just how much expenses mayors and councillors can rack up in the Township.
Figures show that Green鈥檚 expenses in 2009, his first full year, totaled more than $1,000 per month. At $12,620, his expenses were significantly higher than those of his mayoral predecessor: Alberts鈥� expenses for the whole of 2006, 2007 and 2008 totaled $9,174.
Last year, when council stripped him of his Metro Vancouver committee appointments to punish him for misleading them, Green鈥檚 expenses dipped to just under $9,000.
