According to the Statement of Financial Information released by the District of Houston on June 30, 2017 there are three Houston employees that earned over $75,000 in 2016.
“[The District of Houston’s] Chief Administrative Officer earned $105,722 and had expenses of $17,034; the manager of engineering and operations earned $92,218 and had expenses of $9873; and the senior water and wastewater system operator earned $77,909 and had expenses of $4791.”
Gerald Pinchbeck, Corporate Services Officer for the District of Houston explained, “The District of Houston is committed to ensuring that our staff are able to develop as local government employees and receive training in order to become effective service providers. These expense include costs of training and travel (transportation, accommodations, meals) which are provided in accordance with our employee travel policy.”
Pinchbeck said that in regards to the chief administrative officer’s expenses, “he is expected to attend meetings and conferences in order to liaison with our provincial and municipal partners to develop effective solutions to the various issues faced by the municipality and its residents.”
According to Pinchbeck these include, but are not limited to, the Union of BC Municipalities Conference, which is approximately $4500 per attendee, the North Central Local Government Association, which is approximately $2,500 per attendee, and Minerals North, which costs approximately $750 per attendee.
Pinchbeck added that the manager of engineering and operations is expected to be able to attend various essential functions of local government, and is the district’s building inspector. “As such, the district works to ensure that its employees are able to receive adequate training to be able to perform their roles effectively.”
The Houston mayor earned $15,783 and had expenses of $10,922 in 2016; Houston councillors earned $7892 and the highest expenses listed by counsellor Dawn Potvin was $4883.
Local governments are required by law to release individual wages for employees that earn over $75,000.
