The city of Port Coquitlam paid out $429,000 to outgoing chief administrative officer Tony Chong last year, a sum largely made up of banked holiday time over his 17-year tenure.
Current CAO John Leeburn told The Tri-City News on Tuesday that Chong, who retired in April 2012, had approximately 15 months of banked holiday time, which worked out to roughly $275,000. (In 2011, Chong's last full year with the city, he made $209,414 in remuneration).
"This is not a problem that is unique to Port Coquitlam," he said. "There are situations where people will get more than 52 weeks of pay per year. We are trying to minimize that from happening."
Changes made to the city's vacation policy in 2010, which will impact all new hires, caps banked vacation time at six weeks. An employee who banks more than six weeks will have the additional time paid out in the first three months of the following year.
Leeburn said this will limit the giant payouts that make it difficult for the city to plan its budget.
However, the policy change only impacts employees who have been hired since 2010, and PoCo Mayor Greg Moore said it is likely that the city will see more large payouts as veteran staffers move toward retirement.
"It is a legacy that we will have to deal with," Moore said when asked about the issue during Monday night's council meeting.
Overall, staffing costs at the city increased by approximately $1.2 million, from $23.8 million in 2011 to close to $25 million in 2012, according to the city's schedule of employee remunerations and expenses.
The document, which was presented to council on Monday, showed more than100 employees made $75,000 in remuneration or more, and 37 of them earned more than $100,000.
The report also showed the amounts collected by councillors and the mayor for their work. In 2012, Moore earned $93,033 as mayor, while councillors Mike Forrest, Darrell Penner, Glenn Pollock, Dean Washington, Brad West and Michael Wright each made $36,118.
Mayor Moore led council with $5,445 in expenses, while Penner spent $4,550, Pollock spent $3,250, Wright spent $2,831, Forrest spent $2,412, West spent $1,660 and Washington spent $676 for a total of $20,824. Council voted unanimously in favour the report Monday night.
PAY IN POCO
Port Coquitlam's top 10 staff incomes were:
Tony Chong, chief administrative officer - $429,566;
Barry Becker, director of parks and recreation - $183,071;
Mindy Smith, director of corporate services - $166,407;
Laura Lee Richard, director of development services - $166,407;
Albert Jensen, manager of environmental services - $161,493;
Nick Delmonico, fire chief - $154,991;
Andrew Wood, director of engineering and operations - $152,436;
Alan Nicholson, deputy fire chief - $147,059;
Terry Hochstetter, deputy fire chief - $141,195;
Dave Currie, manager of transportation - $133,931;
Larry Wheeler, deputy director of parks and recreation - $130,984.
