More than 70 staff at Tauranga City Council earn over $100,000 a year, but Mayor Stuart Crosby insists council salaries reflect market rates and there is no frivolous spending.

Tauranga City Council's 2015 Annual Plan shows 73 staff are on more than $100,000 a year, with chief executive Garry Poole earning $347,156 – an increase of $3812 from 2014.

Mayor Stuart Crosby says council wages reflect market rates. Photo: File.

While many will view this amount as high, his earnings pale in comparison to those of Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns, who earned a reported $1,464,000 in 2014.

Stuart saw his salary increase from $143,803 in 2014 to $144,188 for the year ending June 30, 2015. While Tauranga councillors don't crack the three figure mark, they are doing well compared with other councillors in the region. Elected members received between $70,858 and $75,917.

The Mayor says councillors did not have a say in how much they earned and council staffs' remuneration was based on market rates.

'My remuneration is set by the Remuneration Authority,” explains Stuart. 'They have a formula to decide that and it's generally on population base now.

'The councillors also have a basic salary now that is set by the Remuneration Authority and there is a small ability to top that up for extra work load. Our council only uses that for Deputy Mayor and chairs of committees.”

Stuart says the council doesn't have a high proportion of staff compared to other councils.

'We have about 540, plus those in our CCOs, that's not out of kilter with Hamilton, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, even Rotorua. Although Rotorua is slightly smaller, it's always hard when comparing apples with apples.

'We are fortunate. I believe we attract quality staff because Tauranga is an attractive place to work. But in saying that, many of them will drop in their salaries to come here – especially if they are from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or other major cities.”

Tauranga's economy was one of the fastest-growing in the country and Stuart says it was important to attract the right people here and in council to maintain that growth. This meant paying market rates.

However, Stuart says the council didn't do it frivolously when hiring staff.

'Their salary and wages are generally driven by the market conditions. If you are an engineer in our business it's very much pegged with being an engineer in the private sector, as an example.

'So there is not actually a lot of discrepancy between the private sector now and the public sector.”

Stuart says he believed Gary's salary was a fair reflection of the hard work he was doing for the city.

'We see pay bands both for the private sector and the public sector for our chief executive. His salary is actually determined and made public and that filters all the way down to our staff and the various skill sets that they have.

'We do go for quality and we do have quality staff in our organisation. That's critical because our key driver, very much like Hamilton, is around growth and so [council staff] are very busy managing our $3.5 billion worth of assets. That does require expertise and ability.”

Stuart says the council had hard working, dedicated staff and they worked hard to earn their salary.

'They are no different than people who work outside in the private sector. I go into the council at the weekends and late at night and early in the morning and the lights are on. All staff do incredible hours at different times of the year because they're passionate about their job.”

The Weekend Sun looked at other councils for comparisons and found Tauranga City Council were on a par with other councils.

At Rotorua Lakes Council, chief executive Geoff William's salary is $295,402, Mayor Steve Chadwick is paid $120,350, while her councillors' base salary is $39,400.

An additional amount up to $59,000 may be paid to those councillors with additional responsibilities such as Deputy Mayor or chair of a committee.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder's salary is $125,480, while deputy chair Jane Nees earned $72,000. The Regional Council's councillors' base salary is $52,000 for the year ending June 30, 2014.

In the Waikato, Hamilton City Council's chief executive Richard Briggs earned $228,462, while the Mayor was paid $146,756 and their councillors earned between $86,000 and $69,000.

The Remuneration Authority calculate how much the nation's local body elected representatives are paid.

The authority sets base salaries for the mayor, councillors and community board members, leaving councillors to decide salaries for other positions such as deputy mayor, committee chairpersons and deputy chairpersons.

As the salaries are set by the independent remuneration authority, councillors are not able to decline the increase.