Remuneration data for NSW council general managers (GM) in Maitland, Walgett and Port Stephens show regional councils are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for their leadership teams.
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New figures from the Office of Local Government show Walgett council, which services a population of 5,516 people, spent $745k on remuneration payments for its GMs, topping the list.
Second highest was Penrith ($698k) followed by Parramatta ($607k) and Northern Beaches ($570k).
Liverpool Plains in the North West Slopes rounded up the top five at $559k.
The figures cover the 2022-23 financial year and include salaries, superannuation, non-cash benefits and fringe benefits tax (FBT) payable by councils to their GMs.
Other regional councils which made the top twenty include Central Coast ($531k), Maitland ($514k), Newcastle ($513k), Wollongong ($464k) and Port Stephens ($458k).
The figures for some councils are somewhat inflated because they might have had multiple GMs and paid termination benefits for GMs in the financial year.
Local Government NSW president Cr Darriea Turley defended the expenditure and said local governments "oversee large and complex organisations".
"The general manager remuneration data published by the OLG often over-represents the actual remuneration received by individual employees because the data can relate to more than one employee and include termination payments," she said.
Carla Mascarenhas
Carla Mascarenhas is a journalist with Explore Travel and The Senior. She specialises in deep issues affecting Gen X and beyond, and the latest in travel news. Contact her on carla.mascarenhas@austcommunitymedia.com.au
