Push for fair pay

The motion also seeks additional pay for deputy mayors, which is currently not provided for in the current remuneration model for councils in our area.

General manager John Scarce, in his report to the September council meeting, described the current pay system for NSW as “gross underpayment” - especially compared to Queensland, where he previously worked.

“You want at least a wage where a mayor or councillor is not losing money by turning up to council business yet, as it is, neither a mechanic nor a solicitor could pay for a replacement when on council business,” Mr Scarce said in his report.

“We have all heard from the Minister for Local Government, on many occasions, that the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal is independent, unfortunately the tribunal identifies every year in their annual report and determination that they must work within legislation.

“The problem is not that the tribunal provides wage increases, the problem is that the starting point of the councillor remuneration is grossly under what it should be.

“As such, section 242A means the tribunal is not truly independent.

“Murrumbidgee Council has requested, with no luck, the Minister delete or suspend section 242A, so the tribunal can be truly independent.

“Murrumbidgee Council has specifically asked the Minister to make a special determination using section 242, again with no luck.”

Based on Queensland’s Local Government Remuneration Tribunal’s decision, Mr Scarce has drawn up a proposed pay schedule.

For NSW Rural categorised councils like Murrumbidgee Council and Berrigan Shire, it’s proposed a councillor receive annual remuneration of $60,270.

The deputy mayor would receive $69,543 and mayor $120,541.

This is the lowest rated category, with pays increasing for other sectors.

The ‘Non-Metropolitan Rural’ pay rate for this financial year under the current system is $13,930 a year for councillors, with an additional fee of $30,390 for the mayor.

To support the motion to the conference, Mr Scarce said examples of pay inequity have been researched.

“A Local Land Services chair receives $10,000 a year, while a board member receives $5,000 a year.

“We have reviewed the legislation surrounding the responsibility of the LLS chair and board, we have reviewed their obligations and the amount of time they need to commit.

“Like mayors and councillors, some chairs and board members will spend more time than others, but, on a rough estimate of responsibility, the LLS Board is about five per cent of what is expected of a mayor or councillor.

“The Office of Local Government set the fees we were to pay to Audit Risk & Improvement Committee (ARIC) members, so for a small council the ARIC chair remuneration is $12,552 per annum and for a member is $1,255 per meeting day.

“Murrumbidgee Council has had an ARIC since amalgamation. It meets four times a year for a maximum of three hours.

“So, in comparison, an ARIC member will receive $418 an hour and the chair $1,000 an hour.

“We have determined that our councillors spend, on average, 144 hours a year and the mayor closer to 290 hours a year just on prescribed meetings (not including functions in the community) - in maths terms, and using the ARIC fees as a guide, a councillor should receive $60,192 and the mayor $290,000.”

“If the Minister was happy to sign off on a publication that suggests these ARIC amounts, I would assume that those who are responsible for far more than just the ARIC, would be entitled to competitive remuneration.”

Endorsed by the council, the motions will be submitted to the NSW Local Government Conference in Sydney from November 23-25.