Minister of State Services Chris Hipkins announced on Thursday the Government would be introducing legislation that would enable the Remuneration Authority, which is responsible for the pay of elected members, the ability to reduce councillor salaries by up to 20 per cent for six months.
The legislation will also see Government ministers take a 20 per cent cut for six months, which was agreed upon by Cabinet in April.
The Bill is expected to be passed on Friday.
The majority of Christchurch's city councillors, who earn $114,130 a year, as well as Mayor Lianne Dalziel with a salary of $195,000, previously signalled a willingness to take pay cuts to ease the burden of the Covid-19 crisis on ratepayers.
However, any decisions around pay increases and decreases is in the hands of the Remuneration Authority, which was unable to make any changes to salaries until the new legislation is passed in Parliament. This new legislation will allow it to do so.
Several city councillors side-stepped the authority by donating a portion of their salary to charity, a move which does not require the approval of the authority.
