SURREY - Employees of the City of Surrey took home nearly $148 million in 2013 in salaries alone. Clocking in at $147,886,518.16, a total of 805 employees made more than $75,000 per annum in 2013 according to the city's recent Statement of Financial Information (SOFI) report.
The top five grossing employees include city manager Vincent Lalonde (previously the general manager of city engineering) who earned $206,827.30 over the year, general manager of planning and development Jean Lamontagne who earned $207,586.53, general manager of parks, recreation and culture Laurie Cavan who earned $218,474.34, general manager of finance and technology Vivienne Wilke who earned $218,707.24 and now-retired city manager Murray Dinwoodie who earned $309,588.01 in his last year of service to the city.
The five top-earners also took home over $210,000 collectively on top of their gross salaries in taxable benefits and "others." That included payout of earned time for vacation, gratuity payments, and pay for performance, banked time and vehicle allowances.
The highest grossing elected officials, however, were given a significantly smaller chunk of change from the city, with top earner Mayor Dianne Watts earning $122,478 in 2013, plus $14,356 in taxable and other benefits.
The second highest paid elected official, councillor Mary Martin earned $67,427 over the year, and only $76 in taxable and other benefits, followed by councillors Judy Villeneuve with $67,426 and Barbara Steele with $67,425. The lowest grossing councillor was Marvin Hunt, making $62,052 in 2013. Hunt left Surrey city council to represent Surrey-Panorama as an MLA.
The mayor and city council spent a collective $153,144 in expenses, not including remuneration and indemnities.
In all, the city's revenues totalled $788.5 million while its expenses came to $574.5 million in 2013.