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Richmond Hill councillors claim over $209K in 2020 expenses, top 3 spenders tally 70%

Carmine Perrelli spent more than $65K

Yorkregion.com
May 28, 2021
Yoyo Yan

Numbers matter, sooner or later.

Richmond Hill's nine councillors collectively claimed $209,942 last year for public expenses, in addition to their salaries and benefits.

Over half of the expenses were paid for communication-related items, among 10 subcategories which also include advertising, memberships, travel and social media, according to the expense reports posted March 18.

Regional Coun. Carmine Perrelli was the top spender, racking up over $65,000, with the lion's share of nearly $55,000 spent on communication, expense analysis by The Liberal reveals.

The runners-up were Regional Coun. Joe DiPaola, now acting mayor, and Coun. Greg Beros, shelling out more than $44,000 and $41,000 respectively.

The three biggest spenders tallied over 70 per cent of the council's total expenses in 2020 on the taxpayers' dime.

According to documents obtained by The Liberal, five of Perrelli's receipts totalling $10,700 for social media marketing and community outreach were paid to a company owned by Steven Makrigiorgos, who has the same surname as Perrelli's former chief of staff, Mike Makrigiorgos. The Liberal did not prove a family connection between the two, but they have both been working at the City of Toronto.

It's worth noting that DiPaola eased up his spending in the second half of the year after claiming almost $40,000 for his expenses in the first six months.

Noticeably, Beros was reimbursed $20,000 for his mask and magnet initiative.

For the remainder of the council, Karen Cilevitz logged just shy of $17,000, followed by Tom Muench (close to $14,000) and Godwin Chan (precisely $12,307). Mayor Dave Barrow reported slightly above $10,000 in expenses, exceeding only Coun. David West ($9,230) and Coun. Castro Liu ($6,828).

According to an updated policy in early 2020, each ward councillor is allocated $41,300 annually to expense, while each regional councillor can spend up to $66,300 and the mayor is provided with $69,800.

However, it does not mean the councillors get to spend the public money in whichever way they wish, as the expense policy states their expenses must be "reasonable and reflect what the public expects of an elected official."

How did the council expense budget change from 2018 to 2020?

2018: A total budget of $300,200

2019: $204,000 communication budget + $92,700 constituency budget + $150,000 support budget = $446,700

2020: A total budget of $450,200