Councillor pay rates are determined across New Zealand by the Remuneration Authority, which largely kept levels for the 2023-24 year where they had been since last year’s elections.
A vehicle kilometre allowance for elected representatives was increased.
The authority increased the remuneration for elected community board members by 4% after they had not received a pay rise following last year’s elections.
Almost all councils had their councillor remuneration pools remain at existing levels.
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich had his remuneration stay at $172,378.
An early challenge for his mayoralty came when the authority last year rejected the council’s initial proposed allocation of pay among councillors as unfair.
It would have resulted in a significant pay cut for two councillors, Steve Walker and David Benson-Pope.
In the end, the council amended its proposal to have deputy mayor Sophie Barker receive $110,475, committee chairmen and chairwomen $90,979, committee deputy chairs $77,982, and those councillors with no additional responsibilities $72,783.
The pay scale was accepted by the authority and confirmed again for 2023-24.
Otago regional councillors are not due for a pay rise this year, either.
Chairwoman Cr Gretchen Robertson will receive $152,881 and deputy chairman Cr Lloyd McCall $84,869.
A councillor with no additional responsibilities would receive $65,000.
The Remuneration Authority said Environment Canterbury chairman Peter Scott would receive $180,000 (deputy chairman Craig Pauling $120,000) and Environment Southland chairman Nicol Horrell $129,434 (deputy chairman Jeremy McPhail $63,265).
The vehicle kilometre allowance for the first 14,000km travelled in a year was increased from $0.83/km to $0.95/km.
The pay for Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark was set at $149,291 and for the mayor of Queenstown Lakes, Glyn Lewers, $143,734.
Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan ($124,638) was on slightly more than his brother Tim Cadogan ($120,841), who is mayor of Central Otago.
Southland District Mayor Rob Scott’s remuneration was $134,914 and Gore District Mayor Ben Bell’s pay was $112,010. — Additional reporting Hamish MacLean
