Vernon council (File photo/Pre-Covid/Vernon Matters)

By Kevin Rothwell

Less travel & conferences

Council expenses lower due to COVID-19

May 26, 2021 | 5:00 AM

Conferences and meetings held virtually due to COVID-19 protocols saved the City of Vernon considerable funds, with the mayor and council spending just $611 for expenses in 2020.

That compares to a combined $20,260 in expenses for the seven council members in 2019.

Municipal government must release a statement of financial information as required by the provincial financial information act, including council remuneration and expenses, staff remuneration and expenses for those employees paid over $75,000 per year, vendor payments over $25,000, severance, tax exemptions, grants and contributions.

The following shows what council members were paid in 2020:

Council remuneration and expenses (photo credit: City of Vernon)

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MQN Architects, owned by Coun. Brian Quiring, also received three city contracts valued at $25,624. Quiring was not involved in any decision making on the awarding of the contracts.

The city’s chief administrative officer, Will Pearce, was the top paid employee at $239,851 and $1,016 in expenses. In 2019, Pearce was paid $219,868 with $9,453 in expenses.

The total city payroll was $25,238,073 with expense payments of $227,800.

Grants and contributions totalled $1,538,477 including $906,688 returned to taxpayers in the form of a COVID-19 tax grant.

Service groups, religious organizations, and others were provided with $834,684 in tax exemptions.

Vendor payments, such as the city electrical bill and so on, totalled $119,429,052.