Departed city manager tops Vaughan's sunshine list

Yorkregion.com
March 31, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

The number of city employees earning $100,000 a year, or more, surged by nearly 37 per cent in 2013, sparked by a jump in the number of firefighters joining the six-figure-salary club.

In total, 258 city employees made the so-called sunshine list last year, up from 189 in 2012, according to the public sector salary disclosure information released by the provincial government Friday.

Eighty first-class firefighters made the 2013 list, compared to just 23 in 2012.

“We had an arbitration award from 2011/12 (resulting in retroactive pay),” Fire Chief Larry Bentley said. “And we had overtime to cover. We had absences due to attrition and long-term injury and illness.”

Mr. Bentley said the move to 24-hour work shifts is expected to minimize overtime costs in the future.

Stripping out first-class firefighters, the increase in the number of city employees pulling in $100,000, or more, was about 7 per cent.

Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua, who earned just more than $170,000 plus benefits, was unavailable for comment.

Interim city manager Barb Cribbett, who raked in $217,750 plus benefits, noted the list of $100,000 earners was released for the first time in 1997 and no adjustment has been made to account for inflation, one of the factors driving its growth.

“If there had been normal inflation applied to that $100,000 since 1997, it would be close to $140,000, at this point,” She said. “That would, of course, have a huge impact on the number of people on the list, but the province has chosen to keep that limit at $100,000 for 15 or 16 years now.”

There are a handful of people on the list that no longer work at the city.

Former city manager Clayton Harris, who abruptly left his post in early April 2013, was Vaughan’s top earner at $261,485 plus benefits.

He took home roughly the same amount in 2012.

The next highest paid city employee, at $227,910 plus benefits, was former director of buildings and facilities Jeffrey Peyton.

He was paid $129,191 in 2012.

When asked about the presence of former staffers on the sunshine list, Ms Cribbett said, “The City of Vaughan does not release information regarding former employees, as it’s confidential. That being said what the public salary disclosure looks at is whatever is reported on a T4 (remuneration statement) and there are some things that go on T4s that can change things. There are salary and wages, there’s vacation pay, those kinds of things as well.”