The City of Canning was paying almost double the amount for employees than it was in 2008–09 according to the city’s budget passed last week.
In the 2008–09 financial year the city spent $31.4 million for 581 full time equivalent (FTE) employees.
In the 2014–15 budget that cost had grown to $59.4 million for 724 FTE employees.
In the 2015–16 budget the cost will only grow to $59.7 million with a reduction in the number of FTE employees to 692 for a population of more than 98,000.
The biggest jumps occurred in 2012 when the city added almost $6 million to its budget for employees and in 2014 when it added a further $6.2 million.
The amount of staff paid more than $100,000 at the City of Canning had risen from 11 in 2008-09 to 29 in 2013–14.
In comparison the City of Melville’s employee costs had risen from $31.5 million in 2008–09 to $45 million for a population of more than 107,000 people this financial year.
The City of Armadale’s employee costs rose from $20.5 million in 2008-09 to $28 million in 2014–15 for a population of more than 76,000.
This year the City of Gosnells, which had a population of more than 118,000, had budgeted $40.4 million for employee costs.
Member for Riverton Mike Nahan expressed concern at the increases but Canning chief executive Lyn Russell said it made the city a competitive employer to retain the best qualified staff.
Dr Nahan said the cost for employees was greater than the revenue the city received from rates.
“The city has been allowed to be managed for the staff rather than the ratepayers,” he said.
“Staff are important, when it started the wage rates were about comparable to Gosnells and Melville now Canning are generally substantially above those other cities.”
Dr Nahan also criticised the recent enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA).
“They also put on a range of new people, a substantial increase of their staff levels and put a large number of them on permanent positions,” he said.
Ms Russell defended the cost increases and said they were a result of a review into staff salaries.
“The City of Canning engaged an independent consultant to undertake a review of Canning staff salaries,” she said.
“The review found that Canning staff were underpaid in comparison to staff in nearby and comparable local governments.
“The current EBA ensures Canning is a competitive employer capable of retaining highly skilled staff.
“The increase is a reflection in the general increase in employee costs across the state and nation.”
– Hamish Hastie
