Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Annual SOFI list reveals top RMOW earners

127 staffers earned more than $75K last year; $82.5M spent on suppliers
IMG_8762
A new Whistler Housing Authority build at 1020 Legacy Way in Cheakamus contributed in part to the biggest single payment to a municipal supplier in 2019 at $7.87 million. Photo by Braden Dupuis.

While Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) payroll costs rose slightly in 2019, it was payments to suppliers that saw the real jump, climbing to $82,516,638 last year from $69,940,003 in 2018, according to the 2019 Statements of Financial Information (SOFI) report received by council on July 21.

The increase can be attributed to more capital and project work in 2019 compared to the year prior, particularly a pair of big Whistler Housing Authority (WHA) builds, said director of finance Carlee Price.

“The SOFI includes the consolidated results for the RMOW, so this includes the work of the municipality as well as its subsidiary corporations, which include the WHA,” Price said.

“So the increase in 2019 over 2018 includes a slightly higher level of projects at the RMOW as well as a meaningfully higher volume of work at the WHA.”

Payroll costs totalled $33,110,798 in 2019—up from $32,712,568 in 2018.

“My philosophy around payroll is ensuring or balancing the needs of the community with the capacity of the organization to deliver the appropriate level of service within a fiscally prudent budget,” said chief administrative officer Virginia Cullen.

THE TOP EARNERS—$75K AND UP

Not including Mayor Jack Crompton, whose total 2019 remuneration (which, for all employees on the SOFI list, includes things like employee contributions to the Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance and health benefits) was $100,988 in 2019, the RMOW counted 127 employees making more than $75,000 last year—up from 113 in 2018 and 105 in 2017.

While there’s been a clear trend of rising payroll costs in recent years, COVID-19 will no doubt bear weight on next year’s SOFI report.

“I’d say we’re definitely impacted … staffing and payroll will look different this year,” Cullen said. “We had to make major reductions during the response, and now as we return to more normal levels of reopening I’d expect us to be kind of back to normal levels by the end of the year.”

Former CAO Mike Furey was once again the top earner in 2019, with a total remuneration of $260,332 (up from the $246,043 he earned in 2018), followed by now-retired general manager of resort experience Jan Jansen ($184,209, up from $180,795), general manager of infrastructure services James Hallisey ($170,664, up from $161,583), general manager of corporate and community services Ted Battiston ($163,041, up from $144,026), director of human resources Denise Wood ($165,318, up from 161,930) and director of planning Mike Kirkegaard ($155,065, down from $162,810).

Whistler’s firefighters were also once again well represented on the list, with 23 members of the Whistler Fire Rescue Service (WFRS) earning more than $75,000 in 2019 (up from 21 in 2018).

Of the 23 listed, only five earned less than $100,000.

Whistler’s firefighters are on a pay scale based on length of service, and also benefit from overtime pay (firefighters called in on short notice earn time and a half).

Find the complete list in the July 21 council package starting on page 130: https://www.whistler.ca/municipal-gov/council/meeting-agendas-and-minutes.

THE SUPPLIERS

The RMOW doled out close to $76 million to 266 unique suppliers in 2019, as well as another $6.8 million to suppliers under $25,000.

The biggest single payment was $7.87 million to Durfeld Log Construction for work on 1020 Legacy Way and 1330 Cloudburst Drive in Cheakamus, followed by $7 million to Tourism Whistler (its share of MRDT revenues) and $6.8 million to BC Transit for bus service to the community.

In terms of 1020 Legacy Way, the Passive House building was paid for largely by a $9 million federal grant, while the WHA paid the rest.

Other big payments included: $3.56 million to Coastal Mountain Excavations (for the White Gold Water Main and Baxter Reservoir projects, as well as snow and ice removal); $4.6 million to Kindred Construction (for the WHA build on Bear Paw Trail); $1.5 million to Jacob Bros Construction (conference centre parkade rehabilitation); $1 million to Mar-Tech Underground Services  (for sewer trunk main lining); $888,964 to ISL Engineering (for bridges, trails, road upkeep, sanitary sewer and manhole work); $779,625 to Merletti Construction (for the Spruce Grove Sewer Lift Station project) and $755,959 to Rocky Mountain Phoenix for a new fire truck.

More than 300 municipal employees, WFRS staff included, are without a contract as of Dec. 31, 2019, with negotiations delayed due to the pandemic. There is no timeline for when they might resume.

Council also received Whistler’s 2019 Annual Report at the July 21 meeting. Both documents will be made available for public viewing on the municipal website and at municipal hall until Aug. 7, followed by an administrative report to council on Aug. 18.