In its regular meeting on Sept. 1 , its first following the August hiatus, Village of Pemberton (VOP) council received the 2019 Statement of Financial Information (SOFI) report.
After council received the VOP’s audited financial statements at its most recent meeting on July 28 (“Village of Pemberton OKs gas tax money for EV chargers,” Pique, Aug. 6, 2020), manager of finance Lena Martin presented the information to council as the next step in the process.
“The Financial Information Act requires local governments to prepare a statement to be filed with the ministry following receipt of the audited financial statements,” she said.
Among the highlights was a rise in payroll costs from $2,296,274 to $2,930,126, with benefits jumping from $261,338 to $346,556. The remuneration schedule also, under the Reconciling Items heading, included a line for other expenses totalling $22,413. Martin explained the line is a catch-all for items not included on the T4 summary.
“[It’s] something like our extended health plan, which is considered a benefit but is not noted on the T4 statement,” she said. “There are some other reconciling items for staff that are immaterial and not considered a taxable benefit and they don’t appear on the T4 statement as well. Those would be items like boots for our public works department.”
As well, seven VOP employees made more than $75,000 in 2018, with four additional employees making the list last year to bring the total to 11.
Chief administrative officer Nikki Gilmore was the highest earner, taking home $131,868 up from $120,079 in 2018. Firefighter and skilled worker Cameron Adams was next, at $101,710, compared to $94,839 a year prior while, also in the fire department, Chief Robert Grossman made $93,934, up from $87,683.
Others topping $75,000 were: manager of corporate services Sheena Fraser ($101,454, up from $93,985); Martin ($97,693, up from $88,407), water treatment supervisor Martin Kluftinger ($88,208, up from $79,062), and building inspector Faruq Patel ($87,614, up from $80,140). On the list and new from 2018 were: manager of development services Lisa Pedrini ($90,421); senior accountant and supervisor Jeanette Einarson ($89,934); water operator Jeff Westlake ($84,429); and assistant manager of operations David Ward ($79,407).
Mayor Mike Richman was paid $29,741, up from $28,699, while each of the four councillors made $14,711 (compared to the full-year salary of $13,396 earned by Councillor Ted Craddock, the lone member of council to serve for the entire year in 2018).
The VOP’s amount paid to suppliers jumped significantly from $9,162,066 to $17,074,196, though much of the difference was the $5,575,162 paid to Hazelwood Construction Services, Inc., which held the contract for the Downtown Enhancement Works Project. In all, 46 suppliers received aggregate payments of $25,000 or more from the VOP.
Other seven-figure payments were: $2,759,037 to Sunstone Ridge Developments Ltd.; $1,536,457 to the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District; and $ 1,105,594 to the Minister of Finance for school taxes.
The full report starts on Page 27 at pemberton.ca/public/download/files/137484.
