Two dozen town employees in Lake Country were paid extra for their work during last yearÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ wildfire season, newly-released salary information indicates.Â
The additional pay was provided not just to members of the townÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ fire department but also former town manager Tanya Garost, finance manager Trevor James, parks manager Shaun Lesowski, engineering director Mattthew Salmon, communications staffer Ruth Sulentich, and development manager Steven Gubbels.Â
Total extra fire-related pay for town employees was more than $155,000, on top of the municipalityÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ overall wage bill of $10 million.Â
In 2016, the municipality had a total staff wage bill of $4.9 million.Â
Last year, the highest-paid employee in the town of 15,000 people was fire chief Darren Lee, who earned $188,000, of which $20,000 was related to wildfire emergency work.Â
Normally, a municipalityÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ top earner is the town or city manager. But Tanya Garost, who held that position in Lake Country, left the municipality at the end of August. For her nine months work, she was paid $165,000, of which $5,000 was related to wildfires.Â
Twenty-five town employees made more than $100,000. Fifty-five town employees made more than $75,000.
In 2016, only 18 town workers in Lake Country made more than $75,000.