Prince George city manager Walter Babicz was the lowest-paid city manager among nine similar-sized cities in B.C. in 2021, according to financial information released by the municipalities.
According to the city’s 2021 Statement of Financial Information (SOFI), Babicz made a base salary of $241,204.39 in 2021, and earned a total of $244,252.20 after vacation payouts were included. City council appointed Babicz city manager in July 2021, after he served nine months as acting city manager following the departure of former city manager Kathleen Soltis in 2020.
In B.C., city managers (more commonly called chief administrative officers) are appointed by the elected city council or district board of directors. All other municipal employees are hired by the city administration, which answers to the city manager or CAO.
Babicz’s pay was lower than the city managers for Delta, North Vancouver, Kelowna, Kamloops, Naniamo, Saanich and Langley in 2021, according to those municipalities’ 2021 SOFIs. The City of Victoria had not published its 2021 SOFI as of June 29, so the Citizen used data from Victoria’s 2020 SOFI.
Those eight cities are the same used recently by the city’s independent Advisory Committee on Council Remuneration to compare the pay and benefits for Prince George’s mayor and city councillors.
The city managers and CAOs, in order of highest total pay to lowest total pay are:
City of Delta (city manager Sean McGill) – Base pay: unavailable, Total pay: $329,363.54, Expenses: $4,095.79, Population: 113,695
City of North Vancouver (chief administrative officer Leanne McCarthy) – Base pay: $306,305, Total pay: $311,853, Expenses: $45, Population: 91,790
City of Kelowna (city manager Doug Gilchrist) – Base pay: unavailable, Total pay: $306,371, Expenses: $1,455, Population: 149,687
City of Kamloops (chief administrative officer David Trawin) – Base pay: $291,109, Total pay: $300,171, Expenses: $5,048, Population: 101,603
City of Nanaimo (chief administrative officer Jake Rudolph) – Base pay: unavailable, Total pay: $298,807.17, Expenses: $3,794.39, Population: 101,987
City of Victoria (city manager Jocelyn Jenkyns) – Base pay: $247,029.85, Total pay: $297,484.92, Expenses: $4,890.63, Population: 94,890 (2020 data, as 2021 was not available)
District of Saanich (former chief administration officer Paul Thorkelsson*) – Base pay: unavailable, Total pay: $276,092, Expenses: $2,072, Population: 124,639 (*Thorkelsson left the District of Saanich in November 2021, according to reports by the Victoria Times-Colonist. In 2020, Thorkelsson earned a total income $288,176.)
City of Langley (chief administrative officer Francis Cheung) – Base Pay: unavailable, Total Pay: $255,525, Expenses: $3,461, Population: 137,399
City of Prince George (city manager Walter Babicz) – Base Pay: $241,204.39, Total Pay: $244,252.20, Expenses: $3,929.59, Population: 82,326
Base pay, where listed, is the regular annual salary and other benefits. Total pay includes vacation payouts, overtime pay or other one-time payments.
The City of Prince George's non-union exempt staff, including Babicz, received no cost-of-living wage increases in 2020 and 2021, and a two per cent increase in 2022.
