The General Manager’s Report in the May monthly meeting recommends that Councillors endorse the maximum prescribed rate for Councillors. The figure of $12,160 encompasses ordinary Councillors whilst a fee for $26,530 is recommended as an additional fee for the mayoral position. This means if approved, the mayor would collect a total of $38,690. Councillors can be paid a minimum of $9,190 and the mayor an additional fee of just $9,780 meaning the total for the mayor would be $18,970. A saving to the rate payer of $19,720.
Hilltops Council has also sought to be recategorised as a Regional Council which would see a further increase in pay. The Local Government Remuneration Tribunal stated Hilltops Council has sought to be re-categorised from Rural to Regional Rural. The new Hilltops Council is an amalgamation of three former councils in the Rural category (Young, Boorowa and Harden). The submission states that the new council has increased complexity of business and should be recognised as Regional Rural.
The Tribunal notes that Hilltops has a population of 19,150 (2016) which is just below the indicative population range of Regional Rural councils. The category of Regional Rural currently includes one council – Broken Hill – which has a population similar to that of Hilltops. Broken Hill warrants categorisation as Regional Rural in recognition of the degree of regional servicing it provides to far western NSW. It is not considered that Hilltops provides the same degree of regional services and on that basis re-categorisation is not warranted at this time.” Hilltops’ June 2018 population of 18,782 is below the indicative population range of Regional Rural councils.
The Tribunal has reviewed the additional criteria and finds no reason to alter its findings as outlined in the 2018 determination.
