COMPARING PAY CHEQUES

ONE CITY PAYCHEQUE VS ONE NANAIMO INCOME

How City remuneration compares with what residents earn

The first article in this series looked at Nanaimo City Hall's $150,000 club. That number is attention-getting. But it is not the starkest comparison.

A $150,000 threshold shows the high end of the City payroll. A better taxpayer-affordability comparison asks something simpler:

How many City employees earn more than the people who pay the bill?

Household income is one useful comparison, but it can soften the picture because a household may include two earners. A single City employee's remuneration is one paycheque. So the more direct comparison is one City paycheque against one Nanaimo resident's income.

The comparison lines

Benchmark	Amount	City Staff Above Line
$150,000 threshold	$150,000	75
Average Nanaimo household income	$109,068	206
Median Nanaimo household income	$87,987	403
Average Nanaimo individual income	Approx. $60,400	At least 565

That last number needs a careful explanation. The SOFI only itemizes employees earning more than $75,000. By my count, 565 City employees appeared on the itemized over-$75,000 list. Since all of them earned more than $75,000, all of them also earned more than the average Nanaimo individual income of roughly $60,400.

That means the accurate wording is:

At least 565 City of Nanaimo employees earned more than the average Nanaimo individual income in 2025.

The real number may be higher because the SOFI does not itemize employees below $75,000. Some of those employees may also have earned more than the average individual income, but the public document does not provide enough detail to count them.

Why this matters

The average Nanaimo household income was reported at $109,068 in 2024. The median household income was $87,987. Those figures represent entire households, not necessarily one person.

Yet 206 City employees earned more than the average household income, and 403 earned more than the median household income. When the comparison is moved from household income to individual income, the gap becomes even more obvious.

This is not a claim that every City worker is overpaid. It is a claim that public payroll growth must be judged against the actual income reality of the residents funding it.

City Hall cannot simply say taxes must rise and expect taxpayers to nod along. Council should first explain whether the City's payroll structure is affordable for the people and households being asked to pay for it.

The sharpest public line:

In 2025, at least 565 City of Nanaimo employees earned more than the average Nanaimo individual income. That does not include RCMP member pay, and the real number may be higher because SOFI does not itemize employees under $75,000.

This is an affordability issue

The issue is not envy. It is not resentment. It is not an attack on people who work for the City.

The issue is affordability. Every dollar committed to payroll has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is taxes, fees, utility charges, borrowing, reserves, grants, or future taxpayers.

A private household cannot simply pass its costs to someone else. City Hall can. That is why the public deserves a much more direct conversation about the payroll burden now built into Nanaimo's budget.

Points To Ponder

• Should City remuneration be compared to household income, individual income, or both?
• How many taxpayers earn less than the City employees whose wages they fund?
• Should council publish a yearly payroll affordability comparison before approving tax increases?
• At what point does public-sector payroll growth become disconnected from local taxpayer reality?

Nanaimo taxpayers deserve plain language. Not budget fog. Not accounting jargon. Not vague statements about pressures and service levels.

They deserve to know how City Hall pay compares with Nanaimo pay.

Sources: City of Nanaimo 2025 Statement of Financial Information; City of Nanaimo 2025 State of the Economy Report; Statistics Canada Table 11-10-0239-01.