Thirty-four people on the City of Prince Rupert’s payroll make more than $100,000. That’s three more than the Statement of Financial Information (SOFI) listed last year.
City manager, Robert Long, topped the list again with a salary of $242,239 — a 26.6 per cent increase in four years. With his payment in lieu of a pension, he brought home $260,653 in 2017. When Long was hired in 2013, his salary was listed at $98,770, due to the fact that he started working for the city five and a half months into the 2013 fiscal year. In his first full year of pay at the city he earned $191, 289.
The 2017 SOFI was outlined in the agenda for the June 11 council meeting in Prince Rupert, and passed by council with no discussion. Before the SOFI was introduced, Long presented the 2017 Annual Financial Report, offering insight on changing the culture in city hall.
“Five years ago when I first started, it was apparent to me that we were, let’s just say, financially challenged,” Long said in his report to council. “It was my job early on to look for ways not so much to reduce our expenditures but look for ways to increase our revenues.”
READ MORE: Prince Rupert Legacy Fund plays role in city salaries
In his time working for the city, Long said, he thinks the most important program they’ve created is building a staff of young Rupertites.
“We’ve developed a program to attract and repatriate and retrain our staff. There’s a few of them here that were born and brought up here, went away, got educated and have come back to work for us with a real big heart and a real concern for the future of this community. That probably is the single most important thing that we’ve done as a team here to actually give Prince Rupert a tremendous future. By investing and being supportive of our young staff members,” Long said.
In the last four years, Long said, the city brought in $16.5 million in grants and donations. Incorporated in 2014, Legacy Inc. was formed after Long negotiated an $18-million lease option for Lot 444. Some of the city staff remunerations come from Legacy Inc.
June 11 Prince Rupert council agenda by Newsroom on Scribd
READ MORE: Thirty-one city staff make more than $100,000
keili.bartlett@thenorthernview.com
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