The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) has released its 2024 Statement of Financial Information (SOFI), providing a detailed look at compensation for municipal employees, elected officials and contractors.
Elected officials collectively earned $477,352 in total remuneration in 2024, up from $453,251 the year prior. Mayor Jack Crompton received $145,918 in 2024, marking a 5.4-per-cent increase from $138,493 in 2023.
Each of Whistler’s six councillors earned $55,239 last year, up from $52,460 in 2023—a 5.3-per-cent increase.
On the expense front, Crompton claimed the most at $9,645. Coun. Jessie Morden followed with $6,370, while Coun. Jen Ford expensed the least at $2,069. In total, council members expensed $39,386 in 2024.
Staff salaries reflect retroactive pay
Chief administrative officer Virginia Cullen earned $270,448 in 2024. That figure was down from $284,449 in 2023, but she explained the difference was due to a one-time vacation payout the year prior.
“The year before, I hadn’t taken all of my vacation, so I got paid out a number of days to draw down my vacation day,” Cullen said in an interview after the June 24 council meeting. “That’s a good indicator of how you just can’t use it as a direct comparison year to year as a salary benchmark.”
The SOFI report provides an annual snapshot of municipal spending, including salaries, revenues and contractor payments. However, listed remuneration does not reflect take-home pay or hourly wages. It includes base salary, retroactive pay, overtime, statutory holiday pay, and payouts for accrued vacation or banked time.
Higher salary totals this year are partly due to retroactive pay tied to previously settled agreements as reported by Pique in 2024.
Top municipal earners
Several municipal staff earned more than $200,000 in 2024:
• Ted Battiston, General Manager, Corporate Services and Public Safety— $231,032;
• Tom Doherty, Fire Chief—$238,849;
• Karen Elliott, General Manager, Community Engagement and Cultural Services—$212,811;
• James Hallisey, General Manager, Infrastructure Services—$231,067;
• Mitchell Hunter, Deputy Fire Chief—$211,484;
• Dale Mikkelsen, General Manager, Climate Action, Planning and Development Services—$223,754;
• Denise Wood, Director of Human Resources—$221,306.
Payroll, contractors and rising costs
Total payroll reached $48.8 million in 2024, up from $44.1 million in 2023. Municipal employee expenses rose to $439,293 from $350,491 over the same period.
Contractor and supplier payments also rose, reaching $116.2 million in 2024, compared to $110.4 million the previous year. Contractors receiving more than $25,000 are listed by name in the SOFI document.
Top contractor payments included:
• BC Transit – $6,868,089;
• Coastal Mountain Excavations – $5,714,453;
• Tourism Whistler – $7,992,477;
• RCMP – $4,331,792;
• Corona Excavations – $3,584,923;
• Drake Excavating – $3,067,236;
• GFL Environmental – $3,677,516;
• BC Hydro – $2,012,366;
• Coastal Mountain Mechanical Ltd. – $2,288,180.
Pique’s parent company, Pacific Coast Publications, received $104,240 for legislatively required public notices and advertisements in 2024.
Questions around transparency thresholds
At the June 24 council meeting, Coun. Arthur De Jong asked about staff perceptions around public disclosure of their salaries.
Cullen noted employees understand the requirements of public service, but added the current $75,000 disclosure threshold may need reconsideration.
“I think if there’s anything that staff would be wondering about is whether that threshold may change in the future to reduce the number of reports that happen on it,” she said.
Ford pointed out the issue was raised through Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) resolutions in 2019. The reporting threshold falls under provincial jurisdiction. However, she noted it may fall into the “nice to have” category rather than a legislative priority given broader municipal challenges.
De Jong suggested visualizing a “salary pyramid” to better convey compensation distribution. “You get a sense of the distribution … fully exposing the rates at the highest levels, but not at the mid or lower layers, would be my preference,” he said.
The full SOFI report is available in the June 24 council meeting package on the RMOW website
