Warrnambool City's chief executive officer Peter Schneider has decided to pass up, for now, the pay rise he was recently granted while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hit the council hard.
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Moyne and Corangamite shire council CEOs do not come up for their annual salary reviews until August and October.
This week it was revealed 126 Warrnambool council staff - 100 of them casual workers - had been stood down as services across the city were forced to close because of restrictions imposed by the national cabinet.
Despite the forced closures, staff have been locked out of the Federal Government's JobKeeper payment, and the state government has yet to step in and help.
The council has estimated a $2.5 million hole in its bottom line because of the pandemic, a figure that was only set to grow.
Mr Schneider said that there had been speculation on social media over whether he had received a pay rise.
The Standard asked the council about talk of the pay rise on Monday, and on Wednesday he told the ABC that he had decided to defer his pay rise.
"Given the current challenges faced by council, I made a personal decision to defer accepting this increase until such time as the restrictions imposed as a result of Covid-19 are lifted and council is able to return to a more normal level of operation," he said.
He said he was awarded a salary increase under the terms of his contract - Mr Schneider's first 12 months at the helm rolled around mid-February.
While his media statement didn't reveal how much the pay rise was, it did say the CEO's remuneration would be published in the council's annual report which was a requirement under the Local Government Act.
A spokesman for Corangamite shire said chief Andrew Mason's last pay rise was in August last year in line with the staff EBA, but there was no expectation of a pay rise this year.
A Moyne spokesman said that CEO Bill Millard's salary did not come up for review until October and at this stage there had been no discussions or decisions relating to salary.
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