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When and whether city councillors will be forced into taking a pay cut remains unclear.
Last week, Deputy Mayor Andrew Turner called for an urgent review of the remuneration given to elected members as the financial burden of Covid-19 begins to weigh down on councils across the country.
Cr Turner, who earns $131,250 a year, said he wanted the Remuneration Authority, which sets the pay of elected members, to review city councillor salaries.
Remuneration Authority chairwoman Dame Fran Wilde was unsure when a review would commence.
"First of all the legislation has to go through Parliament and then we have to consider what we want to do as the independent Remuneration Authority," she said.
Her comments come after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced all Government ministers and public sector chief executives would take a 20 per cent pay cut for six months.
Ardern said the pay cut was about leadership and also reflected what was happening in the private sector.
"If there was every a time to close the gap between different positions, it's now."
Most city councillors, who are on a $114,130 salary and also Mayor Lianne Dalziel who is paid $195,000, have already offered to take pay cuts to alleviate financial pressure on the council, but are bound by the Remuneration Authority.
A number of city councillors have sidestepped the authority by donating a percentage of their pay to charities.
City councillors Sam MacDonald, Phil Mauger told Star News they planned to donate 10 per cent of their salaries to charity. Fifth-term city councillor James Gough also announced on Facebook he had also decided to support a charity, however, he would not reveal how much and to which charity.
City councillor Melanie Coker also donates a portion of her salary to charity and councillor Yani Johanson also donates a sum to the Mayor's Welfare Fund.
City council chief executive Dawn Baxendale, who is on a $495,000 salary, did not rule out a pay cut for herself and her executive leadership team.
She said herself and her team were waiting to see when lockdown finishes before initiating discussions around pay cuts for herself and her team.
"Once we have that information and we know how the organisation will function at that alert level, I will be in a better position to make decisions about the resources required going forward," she said.
