(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

More than 100 employees working at the City of Vernon made salaries of more than $100,000 last year. And 27 members of staff took home more than $150,000.

In total, 220 Vernon staffers made the annual list of employees making more than $75,000 a year.

The figures are a significant jump from five years ago where 133 employees made the list, with 51 making six-figures.

Recently retired chief administrative officer Patti Bridal was the city's highest earner taking home $244,522 before she retired in December. The city's new chief administrative officer Peter Weeber hasn't been in the job long enough for his name to have made the list.

Of the City's top staff, chief financial officer Debra Law took home $185,357 before she retired last summer and her successor Elma Hamming, who wasn't at the city for a full year made $123,565.

City of Vernon fire chief David Lind made $193,621, but a couple of members of his staff actually made more than him.

The second-highest earner at the City was firefighter Brent Bond who took home $197,709. Bond made multiple headlines several years ago after he was caught on CCTV in his boss's office having a brief moment of sexual activity with a dispatcher. He got fired but appealed and got his job back.

The third highest-paid employee at the City of Vernon was firefighter Doug Imrich who took home $193,695 – $74 more than his boss. There is no explanation in the report as to why the firefighters made more money than their superiors.

Six members of staff were paid between $180,000 and $190,000 including the head of public works James Rice and the head of corporate administration Kevin Poole. The other four were firefighters Darren Cecchini, Colin Clarke, Rob Cucheran and Mike Stoll.

In total, the City paid out $34,913,645 in wages to all staff, including those making less than $75,000.

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That's a $2.5 million increase from what the city spent on wages last year.

The City spent a further $579,040 on staff expenses on par with the previous year.

According to 2022 numbers from the province, the average individual annual income is $71,307.

While some city staffers, and firefighters, are making big bucks, the wages of the politicians look modest in comparison.

City of Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming got paid $116,830, plus $6,769 in expenses. The mayor's salary was $4,200 more than the year previous.

The rest of council made between $41,669 and $42,213, with councillor Brian Guy claiming the most expenses at $6,414 and councillor Akbal Mund the least at $1,207.

The figures were released just weeks after Vernon property owners received their tax bills, which were scheduled to increase by approximately 10% this year.

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