Kelowna's payroll in 2020 increases by less than 2.5 per cent over 2019

Photo: Jon Manchester/file

The City of Kelowna spent just slightly more than $80 million in straight wages in 2020, less than 2.5 per cent more than the previous year.

The figure, which includes remuneration paid to city council, topped out at $80,007,765, the first time wages pay reached that level.

It was just three years ago when wages topped $70 million for the first time.

In 2019, the city spent $78.3 million in straight salary.

Including expenses and benefits, Kelowna paid its employees $92.4 million in 2020, $1.9 million more than the previous year.

While the increase in wages was less than in previous years, the number of employees earning in the high five-figures jumped dramatically.

Four hundred and eighty-two city employees earned more than the $75,000 per year reporting threshold compared with 447 the previous year.

Of those, 211 are CUPE employees, 147 on the management side and 124 are firefighters.

Of those, 167 employees, including 89 firefighters, took home salaries in the six figure range.

The biggest wage earner was city manager Doug Gilchrist, who pocketed $289,128. Outgoing deputy city manager Joe Creron earned $202,891 while airport manager Sam Samaddar took home $187,290.

The rest of the top earners include:

• Jim Gabriel, director of active living and culture - $186,678
• Genelle Davidson, finance director - $182,280
• Stu Leatherdale, director of corporate and protective services - $181,900
• Carla Weaden, director of corporate strategic services - $179,538
• Alan Newcombe, infrastructure director - $179,279
• Derek Edstrom, director of partnerships and investments - $173,181
• Travis Whiting, fire chief - $166,511

City councillors were paid a collective remuneration of $413,396, $9,000 more than the previous year, however, with cancellation of in-person municipal conferences such as FCM and UBCM, expenses billed to the city came in at just $12,797, nearly $43,000 less than in 2019.

The biggest drop in spending came from the supply and expenses side of the ledger.

In 2019, the city spent just over $402 million for supplies and services, including remunerations to federal and provincial coffers, other taxing authorities and materials for city projects.

Those dropped to $318 million last year.

Public financial accounting is required each year from all municipal and regional district governments.