Castlegar has published its annual Statement of Financial Information (SOFI) report for 2014 containing information on elected officials and employee salaries as well as expenses paid to suppliers of goods and services.
The report shows that City Councilors were paid $8762 plus $4381 in Municipal Officer’s expenses, for a combined total of $13,143 with the exception of Gord Turner and Bruno Tassone, who because of the election only served for part of the year. Castlegar council salaries come in at $1000 below their counterparts in Trail and $5000 below Nelson councillors.
Mayor Lawrence Chernoff was paid $17,524 plus $8762 in Municipal Officer’s expenses for a total of $26,286. This total is about $2000 less than the Trail mayor and $19,000 less than the Nelson mayor.
The report also contains a list of all employees who received over $75,000 in 2014. Thirteen employees were included on this year’s list. Topping the list is Castlegar’s Chief Administration Officer John Malcolm at $208,263. Next in line is Philip Markin Director of Planning and Development at $165,175. Chris Barlow Director of Transportation and Civic Works was paid $134,937.
The remaining employees on the list are: Utilities Manager Jesse Reel $119,404; Operations Manager Garry Sauer $117,946; Director of Finance Andre Buss $115,132; Fire Chief/Airport Manager Gerald Rempel $108,376; Deputy Fire Chief Duane Monsen $105,921; Deputy Fire Chief Sam Lattanzio $97,207; Director of Corporate Services Carolyn Rempel $97,165; Working Foreman Bruno Tassone $94,630, IT Manager David Bristow $92,896 and Deputy Director of Corporate Services Diane Kalen-Sukra $91,648.
The report includes a note that basic salaries were increased in 2014 due to management staff performing significant extra hours of work during the union labour stoppage. This affected Chris Barlow, David Bristow, Andre Buss, Diane Kalen-Sukra, John Malcolm, Philip Markin, Jesse Reel, Carolyn Rempel, and Garry Sauer.
