Salaries set for Central Otago councillors

Central Otago District councillors have decided how much they should each get paid. 

The Independent Remuneration Authority is responsible for setting a governance remuneration pool for elected members excluding the mayor and regional council chairs.  

The authority decides the minimum base salary for a councillor and councils themselves are then responsible for allocating the pool between elected members based on responsibilities. 

The authority has set Central Otago District Council’s governance remuneration pool at $421,193 and the mayor’s salary at $139,677. The pool is 8 per cent larger than $389,888 pre-election and the mayor’s salary is up 7.4 per cent from $130,074. 

The minimum base rate for a councillor, set by the Remuneration Authority is $32,399.

At its meeting on Wednesday, Central Otago District Council agreed about how to allocate the pool with councillors set to earn between $33,035 and $66,069. 

The council agreed councillors with no additional responsibilities should earn $33,035. This includes councillors Nathan McLean and Charlie Sanders. 

Councillor Tracy Paterson, who is deputy mayor, a portfolio lead and sits on the Audit and Risk Committee will earn $66,069, the most of the councillors. 

The other six councillors earn between those figures depending on their other responsibilities such as portfolio leads, community board members and committee members.  

This allocation will go before the remuneration authority to be finalised.

The full list of responsibilities and salaries is: