Senior Suggests Wage Cut
If Staff Earns In Excess of $75,000
If Staff Earns In Excess of $75,000
Councillor Sherry read a submission on behalf of a senior resident of Nanaimo on the matter of the City Financial Plan and the increasing taxes facing taxpayers.
The senior proposes that any city staff member earning in excess of $150,000 per year should take a 15% reduction in wages, any staff member earning $100,000 should roll back their wage by 10% and those earning $75,000 should see a 5% pay cut.
Whether this suggestion is actually ever seriously considered during the financial planning process is doubtful, after all, who takes a pay cut when they are in the public service?
It is however a valid proposal as the reality of today's economy means a great many people are in fact taking some serious pay cuts and the economy is not nearly as rosy as it was when all those fat salaries were put in place.
I suppose it is difficult for people earning in excess of $75,000 or $100,000 or even $200,000 to understand why anyone gets excited about a $100 a year tax increase. They don't seem to even comprehend that to some people that extra $100 is the difference in how warm you keep your house this year or whether your kid gets the dental care they need.
It was a sensible suggestion from a senior member of our community, it will be interesting to see if any on council try to press the matter, as you can be certain no one on staff would think it a good idea.
That the letter was read by Mr.Sherry is,by itself,a significant development.Will Council act on it?Of course not.When you read the budget documents submitted by staff,one will be very,very hard pressed to find the details of the ever-escalating salaries and benefits package paid to City employees.That's where a large part of the yearly tax increases are consumed.The arithmetic is very simple.A 3% (increase) on
ReplyDelete$50,000,000 is $1.5 million.I think even Mr.Clemens can do this calculation,but he,along with John "The Taxman" Ruttan continue to spread fog and smoke around the City's financial projections.