Sunshine List Fascinating Reading
My eyes are bugged out from scrolling through the Province's annual Sunshine List of public sector employees who earn more than $100,000. Of interest locally is the Northumberland Hills Hospital, whose CEO is already in the daily paper assuring us again just how lean a machine their management team has become.
I guess when you took home $230,969 last year, the value of money takes on a different perspective from the rest of us, given the median wage in our area was only about $27,000 and change. According to the Sunshine List, when you leave out the one registered nurse who worked a lot of overtime, the management team pocketed about $950,000 between the seven of them, not including taxable benefits. How many others linger just below the cut-off is unknown, there could be a few, there could be many more amongst the 38 administrative positions the union counted. Reading newspaper archives I learned that management costs, as a percentage of the paid workforce, has risen from 4.4% two years ago to 6% now. Tell me how that represents cuts to management as claimed by the CEO recently, because I don't understand.
Having decided to check out the List for the Central East LHIN, I found just 4 names at the top of the heap, earning $710,508 between them. Who knows how many lower paid employees there are, hanging around looking for hospital services to eliminate in our region? If their pay scale is anything like the senior staff, the costs must be enough to run a few diabetes clinics.
How about the Community Care Access Centres, those co-ordinating, home care service providing people? You know, the ones who have to come up with the long term care beds the hospital wants to eliminate. Well, our Central East region employs a total of 30 of them who made the Sunshine List, and together they earn a whopping $3,432.882! Again, the lower tier employees aren't listed here, and who knows how much they take home for their efforts.
Finally, we have the Haliburton Kawartha Great Pine Ridge District Health Unit, who also provide health care services and programs in our neck of the woods. The Medical Officer of Health takes home $212,418, followed by the Director of Oral Care at $157,851. The Director of Communicable Disease Control and her Assistant together made $223,563, leaving four others on the Sunshine List at about $105,000 each for a grand total of just over a million dollars.
That is one giant pile of taxpayer money going to top executives; money that isn't spent on actually providing health care directly. If our region is indicative of the rest of Ontario, and I suspect our high end wages are lower here, it's no wonder health care costs have gotten out of hand. If doctor's wages were included, I might just have a heart attack, although at least a doctor can treat me for it, unlike the coffee slurping, kiwi eating folks at the top.
I can hardly wait to see the numbers for the County, Children's Aid, and school boards. That will truly be the icing on the cake.
11 comments:
Yes, school boards. Contrary to the popular belief of progressives, the majority of vice principals and principals and school superintendants in the Kawartha school area are women. Let us not forget that progressives also assert that women make much less than men.
These myths will be shattered when their sunshine salaries are revealed. No wonder little Johnny is getting short-changed by the short-sighted.
Without the over $100,000 people paying over 50% of their wages in tax, who would pay for the special interest groups? The people who hide under a business number pay 28% tax. Then there is the whole underground economy. So do throw stones at the "Sunshine Club" for contributing the most back to the social welfare society.
So the 100K club members contribute more to society because they pay more tax - then why don't we pay welfare recipiients more money and then tax that back?
absolutely, one catch though. The others work for it,
Where are the doctor's salaries? To be fair they must be reported in relation to NHH. Since Biron is the CAO his salary should also be compared to theirs.
"why don't we pay welfare recipiients more money and then tax that back?"
Because it would add another unnecessary layer (expense) of bureaucraps to adinister and monitor.
Doncha just love it when some ill informed Anonymous spouts tax myths and gives ya the chance to correct him/her with the facts?
It's not hard either, you just have to google tax rates and up pops the Canada Revenue Agency website with that very info, ready to be shared with the masses.
Nobody, I repeat nobody, pays 50% of their income in tax. Here is the chart, federal first, provincial second. These are the rates for 2010.
Federal Tax Rates:
-15% on the 1st $40,970 of taxable income
-22% on the next $40,970 of taxable income
-26% on the next $45,080 of taxable income
-29% on taxable income over $127,021
Provincial Tax Rates:
-5.05% on 1st $37,106 of taxable income
+ 9.15% on next $37,108 of taxable income
+ 11.16% on amounts over $74,214 of taxable income
While there may be surcharges at the top end, these have been reduced over the years, and I would remind people that along with surcharges there are numerous loop holes available to top earners that most of us don't enjoy. The higher the income, the more numerous these are, and the wealthy can afford to hire accountants and lawyers to ensure they don't miss a trick.
So, Anonymous, before you rush to the defence of those who don't need it, get your facts straight before you post to the Burd Report. We are smarter and more knowledgeable than you think.
Wow, now tell us about all those loop holes you know of.
Anonymous, why you don't you tell us about the tax loop holes available to our top earners and their corporations? I bet you know a few of them.
I'm certainly not going to do your work for you, you can presumably google the info just like I did.
Some call it tax avoidance, I call it thinly veiled tax evasion and don't condone it. Remember the Carter Commission; they said "a buck is a buck is a buck" and recommended a straightforward progressive income tax with nowhere to hide. Some of us still like that idea.
Wally I hate to burst your bubble but in terms of your comment that it's too expensive to raise welfare rates, may I point out we already have a welfare system in place and they only need to push a button or two to raise the rates, even liberals can do it.
And we also have a tax system in place which welfare recipients must report to in order to get their low income tax credits, so re-jigging that won't be too hard either.
Find a better reason to avoid providing people with an adequate income, this ain't it.
"Wally I hate to burst your bubble but in terms of your comment that it's too expensive to raise welfare rates,"
I hate to have to say that you continue to have a reading and comprehension disability. I never said any such thing as you pompously asserted.
I opposed the expense of adding more bureaucraps to claw back the tax.
"We are smarter and more knowledgeable than you think"
Who is this imaginary "We"? Isn't that awfully presumptuous of you. It would be correct if you realized that you speak for youself. If there is a 'We" let them speak on behalf of themselves in your favour or not.
Anyway, you are not as smart and knowledgable as you think; eg, your abysmal ignorance pertaining to your groundless assertion that the higher paid jobs in the Kawartha School Board belong to men.
And yes, I just love it when some ill informed progressive spouts feminist myths and gives me a chance to correct them with facts.
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