Which local government CEOs are overpaid or underpaid?

The Taxpayers’ Union has compiled a local government “rich list” showing the salaries of council CEOs. They range from $648,900 to $219,382. But this doesn’t tell us too much as different councils are different sizes, and also regional councils tend to have less areas of responsibility and funding (and staff) than territorial or unitary authorities. So I’ve divided them into categories. Let’s start with Regional Councils.

Regional Councils

So the salaries range from $310k to almost $600k. The two on over $500,000 look out of line. They are in fact two of the smaller regional councils. Northland looks high when you compared to Canterbury, which has three times the population. On the flip side the Waikato Regional CEO looks to be a bit underpaid compared to their peers.

Large Councils

You would expect the Auckland Council CEO to be paid the most, likewise Christchurch second. The Tauranga CEO is earning $100,000 more than similar size Councils. You could also argue the Hamilton CEO is underpaid or Hutt is overpaid.

Medium Councils

The Far North CEO salary seems massively out of line. They get paid more than the CEOs of four large councils and around $100,000 more than CEOs of similar size councils. I’d argue that all the $400,000+ salaries are too much for a medium sized council.

Small Councils

Again the top six councils looks high – over $350,000 for a CE of a council with under 50,000 residents is a lot.

Very small councils

Now we are down to the very small councils. I would have thought you could get very suitable CEOs for under $300,000, as most Councils have done.

The brand salary ranges that would seem appropriate, based on the released data, in my opinion is:

• Regional Councils: $300k to $450k
• Large Councils: $400k to $650k
• Medium Councils: $300k to $400k
• Small Councils: $300k to $350k
• Very small Councils: $200k to $300k

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