Maple Ridge employee salaries rise $1.3 million in 2023: report

The cost to keep Maple Ridge running was a little higher in 2023 compared to recent years, according to an annual financial report released this week. 

In total, the city paid its employees more than $43.9 million last year, about a $1.3 million increase from 2022. And 24 employees made more than $150,000 in 2023, a slight increase from the 23 people who made that amount in 2022.

The city’s top earning employee was Scott Hartman, chief administrative officer, who made $299,726 in 2023. Other notable city employees who made more than $200,000 included the deputy chief administrative officer Stephane Labonne, and Michelle Lewis, the city’s executive director of human resources.

The year also marked the first full financial report for the current city council, which was elected at the end of 2022. 

Maple Ridge paid its elected officials $486,636. Mayor Dan Ruimy earned a little more than $136,200 — the most out of any person holding office in the city. Each city councillor made between $58,100 and $58,600. 

The figures represented another small increase in finances dating back to similar reports in the past few years.  

In 2021, the last full calendar year under the previous council, the city paid its elected officials roughly $456,000. The previous mayor, Michael Morden, earned just under $128,000 while city councillors earned between $50,000 and $57,000.

Aside from the yearly salaries for employees and local politicians, the city is also making progress on reducing debt. 

Maple Ridge had roughly $38.7 million in debt as of the end of 2023. The city owed $42.9 million one year earlier. 

Among the main reasons for the decrease was the nearly $2 million the city paid off for downtown civic facilities last year, which still has about $7.3 million in outstanding debt that needs to be covered by 2027. 

The other main project taking up a major portion of the city’s debt is the Albion Community Centre, which was officially opened to the public in 2022. The project has roughly $7.9 million in debt remaining, after the city allocated almost $300,000 to the community centre in 2022. 

Maple Ridge ended the year with a roughly $58.3 million surplus. 

A significant driver of the city’s revenue was taxes, which accounted for over $111.1 million in profit — a $7 million increase compared to 2022, and if you go back even further, a roughly $17 million increase compared to tax revenue generated from 2020. 

The city increased property taxes by 5.65 per cent in 2023. The municipality proposed an additional 6.5 per cent earlier this year. 

Protective services, which includes funding for the Ridge Meadows RCMP detachment, fire department and other emergency services, was the biggest expense for the city last year, accounting for more than $51 million of the $175 million in expenses. 

City council was presented with the annual budget and financial statements at a committee of the whole meeting on May 7, and formally passed the document at a council meeting one week later. 

Once again, Maple Ridge council was presented with a motion to resolve the issue at a council meeting on June 25. 

The motion passed unanimously without any further discussion.