The total tab for New Westminster city council inches up from $462,851 in 2020 to $470,630 in 2021.
Mayor Jonathan Cote had total remuneration of $136,588 in 2021, an increase from the $134,135 he earned in 2020. He had no expenses in 2021.
A report on council remuneration is among the documents included in the newly released statement of financial information.
Last year, Coun. Nadine Nakagawa had remuneration of $55,866, while councillors Chinu Das, Jaimie McEvoy, Mary Trentadue were each paid $54,866. Coun. Chuck Puchmayr received $100 less in remuneration at $54,766, while Coun. Patrick Johnstone received the lowest remuneration at $53,866. (In response to an inquiry from the Record, staff were looking into the the $100 discrepancy in Puchmayr’s pay.)
All totalled, council members had expenses totalling $4,947. This includes funds for attending conferences, seminars/training and community events.
Lorraine Lyle, the city’s senior manager of financial services, said the base salaries for council were set in June 2019 at $130,000 for the mayor and $50,000 for a councillor and the rate is adjusted annually for inflation. The current stipends are $134,001 and $51,539 respectively.
In addition to their stipend, councillors receive $1,000 for each month they serve as acting mayor.
In 2020, council remuneration totalled $460,425. Expenses were $2,426, a drop from previous years that was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Each year, cities are required to submit a statement of financial information that includes reports about the remuneration of city employees earning $75,000 or more, any severance agreements with employees, suppliers of goods and services of over $25,000 and audited consolidated financial statements.
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