City councillors seem to be keeping their expenses in check.
The City of Thunder Bay spent $586,223 to cover the salaries of its elected officials in 2011, down more than $33,000 than it spent in 2009.
Mayor Keith Hobbs tops the list, taking home $107,999 when expenses and remuneration for sitting on boards and other bodies are factored in.
His salary before expenses was $90,741.
That’s down from the $112,708 former mayor Lynn Peterson was paid in salary and expenses in 2010. Including Hobbs’s month at the helm in 2010, the mayor’s position was paid $118,936 that year. Peterson collected $130,930 in 2009.
As a whole council received $2,829 less than it did in 2010 and $33,449 less than it did in 2009.
"That's a good thing, isn't it," Hobbs said, contacted by email.
Westfort Coun. Joe Virdiramo was the highest paid councillor, earning $47,282 last year. He got a salary of $37,716, $3,720 for chairing the Thunder Bay Police Services Board and $6,296 in expenses. He was followed closely behind by Coun. Iain Angus, the former chairman of the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administrative Board, who earned $45,117. Angus was paid $8,538 to sit on the board, which paid out $19,545 combined to six councillors and Mayor Hobbs.
At-large Coun. Rebecca Johnson was the lowest paid councillor, at $35,320.
TBayTel’s municipal service’s board members received $224,979, topped by the $56,739 in salaries and expenses paid out to Bill Baines, a cost that included an $18,000 registration in the Institute for Corporate Governance Certification.
Thunder Bay Hydro board members received a total of $62,869 in salaries and expenses, led by chairman Ralph Falcioni, who earned $13,016 last year.
Councillor base salaries in 2011 were $28,763 apiece, plus taxable benefits that averaged $5,665 per person. The mayor’s base salary was $83,921.
