Maitland mayor Philip Penfold will receive a $40,000-a-year pay rise after he and other councillors voted themselves the maximum remuneration possible under the council's upgraded classification.
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The council voted on Tuesday night to increase councillor fees from $25,310 to $32,590 in 2023-24 and raise the mayor's additional fee from $62,510 to $94,950.
Cr Penfold's overall remuneration will jump from $87,820 to $127,540 plus superannuation, about $6000 more than Lake Macquarie mayor Kay Fraser and $7000 less than Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes.
Cr Penfold also works seven hours a week as an electorate officer for Nationals senator Ross Cadell.
He told the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday that he was "confident I provide the people of Maitland value for money".
The combined councillor and mayoral pay rises will cost Maitland ratepayers an extra $127,080, plus additional super payments, requiring an adjustment of $89,828 in the council's 2023-24 budget.
The sharp increase in councillor and mayoral fees follows a Local Government Remuneration Tribunal decision last month to upgrade Maitland's classification from "regional centre" to "regional strategic area".
The higher categorisation includes new pay bands starting at $19,760 for councillors and $41,960 for the mayor.
A staff report to councillors on Tuesday recommended the council take up the maximum fees payable in the new category "recognising the level of work undertaken by the councillors and mayor".
The new pay rates represent a jump of 28 per cent for councillors and 45 per cent for the mayor.
Cr Penfold, the four other independent councillors and three of Maitland's four Liberal councillors voted in favour of the maximum pay increases.
Liberal Ben Mitchell and three Labor councillors voted against the maximum rise.
Two councillors, Liberal Sally Halliday and Labor's Loretta Baker, were absent.
In 2020, the council voted for a $16,000 mayoral pay rise to then mayor Cr Baker in similar circumstances after the remuneration tribunal had elevated Maitland to a new classification.
Councillor fees also rose $4000 that year.
Independent Bill Hackney said on Tuesday that councillors' remuneration was "laughable" given the amount of work involved.
"I've always thought, even before elected, that the fees were too low," he told the meeting.
"The mayor, whoever it may be, was always underpaid compared to our neighbours. Our neighbours are much larger, but we do punch above our weight.
"If we are going to move forward, I think it's only decent that person is paid more than the general supermarket worker, and I don't mean that in any disrespect to any supermarket worker."
City of Newcastle councillors receive $32,680 a year and the lord mayor an additional $101,800. Lake Macquarie councillors are paid $31,020 and the mayor an extra $90,370.
Liberal Kanchan Ranadive said Maitland's mayoral pay rate was "about getting quality people to dedicate their full time to the community".
"If we are going to be expecting the mayor to do a full-time job, would someone accept a full-time job at that amount?" she told the meeting.
"Would they be able to support a family?
"Let's not be short-sighted. Are we going to be getting good people, quality people, to be representing our city in the future?"
Liberal Mitchell Griffin said the pay rises were justified given the "demand on us in such a growing city".
Labor councillor Robert Aitchison moved an amendment seeking to leave the councillor and mayoral fees unchanged from 2022-23, but it was voted down.
"We're doing it tough and the community's doing it tough," Cr Aitchison told the meeting.
"We all know there could very well be a rate increase coming up shortly, who knows.
"But the cost of living is going through the roof.
"We've seen interest rates go month and month on the increase. I think bread's gone up something like 54 per cent in the past 12 months.
"The money we could be saving is $120,000, and that money could be better spent in the community."
Labor's Ben Whiting said the remuneration debate was "tricky" given the city's new categorisation.
"This is a significant jump," he said.
"I think it's 44 per cent for the mayoral fee, and, while I do believe the mayor's fee should be a full-time-equivalent amount, it is certainly a more substantial jump than sits comfortably with me right now."
Cr Mitchell said he was "somewhat shocked" about the extent of the pay increases.
"There have been increases in the past, but never at this level," he said.
"Our current rate is well within the range of the new category, so I'm minded to support Cr Aitchison's amendment."
Labor's Stephanie Fisher said the recommended pay rise "just seems quite steep to me".
Cr Penfold said on Wednesday that he had "no doubt" Maitland belonged in the same remuneration category as Tweed, Lake Macquarie and Shoalhaven councils.
"The role of mayor pays well less than that of local MPs and approximately half that of an average executive manager," he said.
"I can only presume that those Labor councillors who opposed the allowance increase don't feel they do enough to deserve it [and] will now choose to donate the increase to a local charity."
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Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
