Regional district outlines 2024 financials

The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George board of directors approved a statement of financial information for its 2024 fiscal year at its Thursday, June 20 meeting at the Mackenzie recreation centre.

The annual report lists the district’s financial information, compensation for staff and elected officials, vendor payments and more.

Here are some highlights.

Director compensation

The regional district has 14 directors. However, there are also eight alternate directors who fill-in when one of the directors is unavailable and five commission directors.

On top of that, there are five directors who are a part of the Bear Lake Local Community Commission, which administers fire, street lighting, cemetery, ambulance station and recreation facilities services in that community. Director Jerrilyn Kirk (Crooked River-Parsnip) is a member of the commission as well as the board of directors.

Put together, these 27 people were compensated with $439,172, of which $314,270 was made up of remuneration for board members, $12,890 in remuneration for attending committee meetings and $112,012 in claimed expenses.

Here’s how much each person was compensated in 2024 in order from most total compensation to least.

Board Chair Lara Beckett (Chilako River-Nechako): $64,402 in total compensation — $47,308 in board remuneration, $16,495 in claimed expenses and $600 in committee remuneration
Director Dannielle Alan (Robson Valley-Canoe): $49,476 in total compensation — $24,970 in board remuneration, $24,026 in claimed expenses and $480 in committee remuneration
Director Jerrilyn Kirk (Crooked River-Parsnip): $44,141 in total compensation — $24,970 in board remuneration, $18,186 in claimed expenses and $985 in committee remuneration
Vice-chair Art Kaehn (Woodpecker-Hixon): $43,643 in total compensation — $28,822 in board remuneration, $14,342 in claimed expenses and $480 in committee remuneration
Director Kevin Dunphy (Willow River-Upper Fraser Valley): $30,233 in total compensation — $24,970 in board remuneration, $5,023 in claimed expenses and $240 in committee remuneration
Director William Empey (Tabor Lake-Stone Creek): $28,603 in total compensation — $24,970 in board remuneration, $3,273 in claimed expenses and $360 in committee remuneration
Director Victor Mobley (Salmon River-Lakes): $28,537 in total compensation — $24,970 in board remuneration, $2,967 in claimed expenses and $600 in committee remuneration
Director Joan Atkinson (District of Mackenzie): $26,143 in total compensation — $16,201 in board remuneration, $9,342 in claimed expenses and $600 in committee remuneration
Director Gene Runtz (Village of McBride): $21,942 in total compensation — $16,180 in board remuneration, $5,522 in claimed expenses and 240 in committee remuneration
Director Owen Torgerson (Village of Valemount): $20,620 in total compensation — $16,180 in board remuneration and $4,440 in claimed expenses,
Director Brian Skakun (City of Prince George): $19,600 in total compensation — $16,180 in board remuneration, $3,300 in claimed expenses and $120 in committee remuneration
Director Cori Ramsay (City of Prince George): $18,340 in total compensation — $16,180 in board remuneration, $1,800 in claimed expenses and $360 in committee remuneration
Director Kyle Sampson (City of Prince George): $18,227 in total compensation — $16,191 in board remuneration and $2,036 in claimed expenses,
Director Simon Yu (City of Prince George): $16,180 in total compensation from board remuneration
Commission Director Jennifer Hebert (Bear Lake): $1,800 in total compensation from committee remuneration
Commission Director David Nicholson (Bear Lake): $1,500 in total compensation from committee remuneration
Commission Director Albert Kendall (Bear Lake): $1,485 in total compensation from committee remuneration
Alternate Susan Scott (City of Prince George): $840 in total compensation from committee remuneration
Commission Director Marlaina McClure (Bear Lake): $750 in total compensation from committee remuneration
Alternate Director Jesse Wright (District of Mackenzie): $712 in total compensation — $472 in claimed expenses and $240 in committee remuneration,
Alternate Director Wendy Howe: $520 in total compensation from claimed expenses
Alternate Director Terry Burgess (Crooked River-Parsnip): $267 in total compensation from claimed expenses
Commission Director Sandra McClure (Bear Lake): $250 in total compensation from committee remuneration
Alternate Director Tim Bennett (City of Prince George): $240 in total compensation from committee remuneration
Alternate Director Trudy Klassen (City of Prince George): $240 in total compensation from committee remuneration
Alternate Director Hugo Mulyk (District of Valemount): $240 in total compensation from committee remuneration and
Alternate Director Ron Polillo (City of Prince George): $240 in total compensation from committee remuneration.

Employee compensation

Local governments in BC are required to list every employee that makes more than $75,000 per year in their statement of financial information.

The district had 60 such employees in 2024, who earned a total of $6,004,114 in compensation and claimed $148,266 in expenses.

Here were the five highest earners in 2024 among the listed employees:

Chris Calder, chief administrative officer: $177,840
Kenna Jonkman, general manager of community and development services: $160,944
Maureen Connelly, general manager of legislature and corporate services: $148,958
Laura Zapotichny, general manager of environmental services: $142,016
Blaine Harasimiuk, manager of inspection services and sustainability practices: $139,042

During the meeting, Director Victor Mobley (Salmon River-Lakes) noted that the district’s previous chief administrative officer Jim Martin was listed as having been compensated to the tune of $123,938 in 2024 despite having retired at the end of 2023.

General manager of financial services Sarah White said that the payroll year isn’t fully aligned with the calendar year.

“There was a December payment that happened in January, so that included all the final payouts as well,” she said.

Bylaw enforcement

The report said that the regional district’s bylaw enforcement department dealt with 108 reported incidents in 2024, with 10 enforcement orders being issued.

That included 15 incidents relating to unsightly premises, 17 relating to building permits, 26 relating to zoning bylaws, six relating to development permits and 45 that weren’t bylaw related.

Debts, reserves and cash

As of Dec. 31, 2024, the regional district had around $89.2 million in its reserve funds.

That included around $6.7 million in contributions from the operating fund, $5,049,041 in interest earned and around $3.9 million in transfers from reserve funds to various projects.

At that same point in time, the regional district had around $89.7 million in debenture debt.

When it comes to cash on hand, the regional district had around $22.4 million at the end of 2024 as well as around $73.5 million in portfolio investments.

Suppliers

The statement lists every supplier the regional district paid more than $25,000 in 2024. The total amount paid out to suppliers who received more than $25,000 was $39,756,097.

Here are the top five recipients.