The list of city workers who were paid $100,000 or more increased by nearly 25 per cent in 2020, a staff report shows. Known as the sunshine list, public agencies are required to report annually who passed that threshold and how much they were paid.
In a report released on Friday afternoon, the City of Guelph reports 399 city employees exceeded the $100,000 mark last year, an increase of 71 people from 2019. The list doesn’t include Guelph Police Service, which reports separately.
“The increase is attributed to the pandemic and a non-standard payroll cycle,” explains the report.
As a result of COVID-19, there was a “high demand” for paramedics which resulted in an increase of 34 paramedics on the list, including 13 part-time paramedics. In addition, paramedics were eligible for “temporary pandemic pay” premiums which topped up hourly wages and monthly lump sum payments.
Last year also saw an additional pay cycle for both weekly and biweekly staff, notes the report.
The highest-paid city employee in 2020 was CAO Scott Stewart, who received $258,327 and $10,975 in taxable benefits.
At the end of 2020, the city employed 1,763 full-time and part-time workers, meaning 22.6 per cent of municipal workers made the list.
