Councillors ‘happily’ agree to no pay rise

There will be no pay rise for Otago regional councillors for now.

Councillors "happily" agreed not to increase pay for elected members in light of the financial impacts of Covid-19 across the country.

The decision was made after the Otago Regional Council received a report yesterday morning on the Local Government Members Remuneration Determination for the 2020-21 financial year.

ORC chairman Andrew Noone said councillors "happily" accepted that remuneration would remain unchanged from the previous year and felt it was a sensible and appropriate decision.

“The council withdrew from our reserves this year to avoid an increase in general rates, and we worked hard to keep targeted rate increases to a minimum.

"We know a lot of businesses and families have had to tighten the purse strings and are facing uncertain times."

No reductions were made to the chairman’s salary by the Remuneration Authority, as the regional council’s chairwoman at the time, Marian Hobbs, gave 10% of her salary over the past six months to Dunedin and Queenstown-based charities.

Ms Hobbs’ commitment was made alongside the Otago Mayoral Forum in March to recognise the impacts of Covid-19.

 

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement