Perth Voice Interactive

MEGA-COUNCILS should pay their elected members more for handling extra constituents, according to councillors from the populous City of Stirling.

They are currently paid $32,960 a year, and can claim around $10,000 in other benefits and reimbursements, according to the rules laid down by the Salaries and Allowance Tribunal for “band 1” councils.

But Stirling’s councillors reckon “the band system is broken” resulting in “serious inequities”, according to a submission to the tribunal written at the behest of councillors. 

“Band 1” can include councils as small as Fremantle and Belmont, which have a population under 50,000, while Stirling has more than 234,000 people.

“The inclusion of councils with populations and revenues less than a fifth of the size of the City of Stirling‚Äôs has watered down band 1,” the submission states.

“Many band 1 local government elected members will attend council meetings once a month, represent a few thousand residents and have far less demanding roles. That role is much smaller than the role of elected member at the City of Stirling.”

The submission says each Stirling councillor submits an average of 200 elected member inquiries on behalf of community members each year.

At the December 5 meeting Stirling councillors unanimously endorsed the submission to the SAT, which calls for “a significant increase in the fees and allowances payable to elected members” in the four “mega councils”: Stirling, Wanneroo (population: 221,000), Joondalup (165,000) and Swan (167,000).

The submission says they should be the only four councils in band 1, and that given the rate of inflation alone a 15 per cent increase in fees and allowances “is necessary to keep pace with the cost of living”.

Cr David Lagan said at the December 5 meeting: “The case here for the increase, I think, is valid given that most of the councillors here would attend between 30 and 40 meetings a year, and workshops, and deliberate over very large budget figures and very large projects.”

Massive reports

“And read massive reports,” Cr Tony Krsticevic said, with this week’s agenda coming in at 566 pages.

When the SAT gave councillors a modest 1.5 per cent pay increase this year, its determination said: “The Tribunal considered this appropriate given the expectation of a degree of voluntary service as an elected member, and as fees and allowances are not intended to be full time salaries.”

But Cr Lagan contended: “There’s not many volunteers that spend three nights a week at a council chamber, respond to thousands of emails every year, and then spend – as many of our elected members do – both days of the weekend attending numerous community events.”

In a cheeky gambit, the submission also contains a table pointing out how hard Stirling councillors work compared to salary tribunal members; Stirling held 41 formal meetings in 2022 for a pay rate of $32,960, while the SAT members only held 12 formal meetings and got paid a smidgen less at $31,214.

by DAVID BELL