My Account
Newly-elected Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is wasting no time in reviewing the salaries of highly paid bureaucrats.
In the last financial year, annual staff costs at Council and its Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs), such as Auckland Transport and Eke Panuku, sat at just over $1 billion, hitting the 10-digit figure for the first time since amalgamation in 2010.
The latest annual report also revealed that 257 staff earned more than $200,000. In the previous year, that figure sat at 222 and, since 2015, it has risen by 60 per cent from 155.
The number of staff earning over $300,000 is 56, one up from the previous year.
In several public statements, Mayor Brown put a target on the backs of middle managers to cut the highest salaries by 30 per cent, which would see more than $5 million cut from the salary bill.
However, to advocate for this, the Mayor will need a resolution from the Governing Body.
Brown’s sway over Council staff is also limited by the fact that only one employee is directly under the Mayor and the Governing Body’s control – chief executive Jim Stabback.
Stabback receives quarterly performance reviews from the Governing Body and in the last term, it was repeatedly noted that he was councillors’ only direct employee.
The remaining employees answer to Stabback.
Another tack Brown could take would be to adjust the performance measures in Stabback’s quarterly review – provided the Mayor has support from the majority of councillors.
However, even if Council set Stabback performance measures to reduce staff numbers, any salary adjustments would be in the hands of the chief executive himself.
During one of Stabback’s performance reviews last April, former Mayor Phil Goff challenged the idea that Council staff were overpaid.
“Whenever anyone tells me that we have got a bloated and overpaid bureaucracy I say, ‘Well, if it is so bloated and overpaid, why is it that we have skilled people going to other organisations?’” Goff said.
Chief financial officer Peter Gudsell said the increase in employees earning over $200,000 and $300,000 was because of annual salary increases and a tight labour market.
“Staff that were hired during the year received higher salaries in line with increasing market rates, and some existing staff received salary increases in line with the market,” Gudsell said.
“The high demand for the limited number of skilled workers drove salaries upwards.”
Gudsell said there was a contractual commitment that increases would be in line with the Consumer Price Index rates.
Council benchmarks salary levels for employees against the public sector and market rates, with 15 salary bands for similar positions.
Stabback was approached for comment but did not respond.
