Plans are in place to collect more than $24,000 in overpaid remuneration to current and past City of Powell River council members.
Details of the overpayment were released to the public on Thursday, November 19, at the council’s regular meeting.
In a statement, councillor Russell Brewer said that overpayment was due to a data entry error that dated back to January 1, 2013. Total for the overpayment was $24,562.36.
Councillors are provided an annual remuneration of $14,000 and the mayor $35,000, with an annual adjustment January 1 based on the BC Consumer Price Index from the previous year.
The overpayments were initially brought to the attention of the council during an in-camera session in February. Mac Fraser, city chief administrative officer, said the information was not made public until now because staff needed time to address the issue and arrange repayments.
“We do release in-camera resolutions occasionally,” said Brewer. “We review all our in-camera resolutions on a quarterly basis and we get a report that recommends which ones we can release and others we can not.”
A repayment plan for the current sitting council has been enacted, one councillor from the previous council has already paid in full and another has established a service plan. The city is waiting to make arrangements with the remaining previous council member, according to the statement.
To ensure overpayment does not occur again, the city’s chief financial officer and/or the manager of accounting will verify data input and sign off on future payments and increases.
