Italian filmmaker traces great-grandfather’s immigration to Canada 100 years ago – 12
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RSS grad 2014 – special section
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Weds., July 2, 2014 www.revelstoketimesreview.com Vol. 117, No. 27
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TIMESReview
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Firefighters lead way in city pay
Revving up
Alex Cooper
editor@revelstoketimesreview.com
Brandon Wince revs his dirt bike up a steep, five-metre high boulder during the Western Canadian Championship Trials in Revelstoke on Sunday. Wince, from Kelowna, finished second in the two-day event. For more, see page eight. Alex Cooper/Revelstoke Times Review
Last year was a good year to be a firefighter. Revelstoke firefighters received big pay hikes in 2013, the result of retroactive pay increases that raised their average remuneration to more than $120,000 last year (not including the fire chief). All told, they made up five of the seven highest paid city employees in 2013, when all salaries, overtime, taxable benefits and expenses were factored in. Municipalities are required by law to disclose the remuneration of all employees that earn more than $75,000, as well as those of mayor and council. The City of Revelstoke released the information in a news release on Thursday afternoon, after it was requested by the Times Review. Mayor David Raven earned $28,000 last year and claimed $3,318 in expenses. Councillors earned $14,000 each. In terms of expenses, Christopher Johnston claimed $1,724, Tony Scarcella claimed $1,278, Phil Welock claimed $854, Linda Nixon claimed $276, Gary Starling claimed $54 and Steve Bender did not claim any expenses. A firefighter was the highest paid city employee, earning $146,472 in 2013. After that was Tim Palmer, the city’s chief administrative officer, who earned $143,253. Mike Thomas, the director of engineering and development services, earned $124,768 last year. His responsibilities were increased to include responsibility over both engineering and development last year after former planning director John Guenther resigned. The next four on the list were all firefighters earning between $108,183 and $120,757. Finance director Graham Inglis made $104,944 and fire chief Rob Girard earned $95,594, to round out the top 10 paid city employees. Sixteen employees were also on last year’s list. Because of turnover and changes in roles, it is difficult to make direct comparisons to 2012. As well, taxable benefits were included in 2013 and not in previous years. Still, firefighters received big jumps in pay in 2013, a result of retroactive three per cent pay increases they received for both 2010 and 2011 that was paid out last year. The retroactive wage hikes were worth $80,589 total — or almost $16,000 per firefighter, according to the city’s news release. They made up about 45 per cent of the total increase in pay to employees who earned more then $75,000. Dan Hutchison, the president of the local firefighters union, said last year was an exceptional year for the department, with the retroactive pay combining with other factors to lead to abnormal pay packages. One firefighter went on long-term disability, forcing the others to cover his shifts. “Our collective agreement, when you cover shifts, you’re on overtime,” he said. “It becomes a challenge for sure operationally when someone goes down sick.” Another issue he raised was that the volunteer crew has gone through lots of turnover in recent years, making for an inexperienced crew that requires extra training and support. see Remuneration, page 3
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