At a meeting in Palmerston yesterday, the council approved changes in remuneration that will mean increases for councillors, but cuts for community board members.
Councillors' salaries increase 9.5% to $20,200, the deputy mayor's 12.2% to $28,280, executive committee members' 17.4% to $25,250 and water management zone committee appointees' 14.5% to $23,230.
The mayor's salary, which is set by the authority, has increased 4.11% to $87,350.
In contrast, payments for the Ahuriri and Waihemo Community Boards reduce by 18.6% to $11,000 for the chairman or chairwoman and 10.5% to $5500 for board members.
In the past, except for the mayor's salary, the council was allocated a remuneration pool by the authority. The council then decided how to distribute it.
However, now the authority sets a base salary for all, including community boards.
Cr Craig Dawson, himself a former member of the Ahuriri Community Board, was disappointed with the way community boards had been treated.
It had always been a struggle to get people to stand for community boards and the salary reductions would only make it more difficult, he said.
Cr Jim Hopkins said the changes also highlighted the discrepancy between large and small councils.
Larger metropolitan local authorities would get substantial amounts of money from their ratepayers that councillors could award themselves.
In his experience in local government, members of smaller authorities were hard-working and diligent.
''What is paid bears no resemblance to the effort put in,'' he said.
Cr Kathy Dennison, who was also a board member, was disappointed payments to community board members were being cut when a local body election was coming up in October.
Getting good people to stand for community boards would be difficult, she said.david.bruce@odt.co.nz
