GOLDEN Plains Shire councillors are seeing a pay increase and have put the idea out for public feedback.<\/p>\n
At the council meeting on Tuesday, 27 April, council voted to enlarge their state-sanctioned salaries, allowing mayor Cr Helena Kirby a sum of $72,268 or just under five per cent, and other councillors $25,237 or just under 10 per cent. Those figures include the mandatory 9.5 per cent for superannuation.<\/p>\n
Throughout 2020-21 in the Golden Plains Shire, the Mayoral allowance was set at $68,827, and the councillor allowance at $22,943, including the 9.5 per cent superannuation guarantee.<\/p>\n
Cr Sharkey said he encourages the public to submit feedback on the allowances.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be interesting to see what the general public has to say with regards to how palatable they see these figures,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Local Government Victoria divides councils into three classifications to assess councillor allowances. Councils are sorted based on the municipality\u2019s current income and population.<\/p>\n
As of December 2019, the Golden Plains Shire has been classified as a category 2 council, having previously been considered a category 1 council.<\/p>\n
This means that the mayoral allowance can be up to $81,204 and the councillor allowance can be set between $10,914 and $26,245.<\/p>\n
Cr Whitfield said the allowance increase is necessary due to the higher remuneration category the state government has sorted the Shire into.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a nutshell, population increase equates to a higher level of input required from councillors,\u201d he said. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m still very interested in feedback from the public on this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposed allowances will be available for the public to review until Tuesday, 25 May.<\/p>\n