Jordan Bateman: Taxpayers lose in TransLink CEO comparison shopping
If TransLink is as broke as it claims to be, why are taxpayers so grossly overpaying its chief executive officer?
Ian Jarvis received $394,730 in salary, incentives and taxable benefits in 2012, plus another $32,552 in taxpayer-funded petition contributions. On top of that, Jarvis took $11,418 in “other” benefits, including a “Wellness Allowance” that apparently only the CEO is eligible for. That’s a total compensation package of $438,700.
But let’s stick to the $394,730 in salary, incentives and taxable benefits, and do some comparison shopping to put that amount into perspective.
Jarvis made $140,000 more last year than the province’s deputy transportation minister, Grant Main.
He made $200,000 more than Premier Christy Clark. Clark wasn’t alone; Jarvis out-earned Prime Minister Stephen Harper by over $75,000.
Some TransLink supporters will no doubt suggest that Jarvis had to be paid that much—how else would the agency attract “the best and the brightest”? Of course, that tired line is false, too.
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), by no means a lean organization, paid its CEO Andy Byford $294,366 plus $14,000 in taxable benefits. That’s $88,000 less than Jarvis was paid, despite the fact the TTC’s total revenue is double TransLink’s.
Byford was hired away from Sydney, Australia, taking a 28 percent pay cut to go to Toronto. Clearly, there is enough value in living and running transit systems in Canada that taxpayers do not need to overpay to get people.
A little further east, the annual salary of Societe de Transport de Montreal (STM) director-general Carl Desrosiers is listed at $297,000. Interestingly, STM’s annual $1.3 billion budget is almost identical in size to TransLink’s, yet the Lower Mainland agency pays its CEO $97,000 more. Desrosiers was formerly second-in-command at STM, making $261,000—a salary that wouldn’t crack TransLink’s top five.
In Seattle, King County Metro general manager Kevin Desmond’s 2012 salary works out to $191,645 CDN, an astonishing $203,000 a year less than Jarvis.
Joni Earl, the CEO of Washington State’s Sound Transit, made just over $201,000, including a $6,000 bonus, in 2011. Amazingly, Jarvis’s bonus was close to ten times what Earl received. Earl also turned down a raise in January 2010—something TransLink officials would be wise to emulate given their never-ending demands for more taxes and fares.
Portland, Oregon, is a city continually held up as a great example of transit planning. TriMet’s Neil McFarlane’s salary is $228,440 CDN, and included a three percent raise—after a three-year pay freeze. Jarvis was appointed as TransLink CEO in 2010, and his salary has jumped 10.8 percent in just two years.
Over the past few years, CTF, political and media scrutiny of TransLink has forced multiple high-level audits, all of which have come back with recommendations on how TransLink can be more efficient. These audits didn’t drill down into specific program spending, which would have revealed millions more in savings.
Further, the TransLink commissioner found that while front-line bus service is being squeezed, corporate costs continue to grow at TransLink head office. “Even excluding Compass card and fare gates, and studies, corporate costs increased by 11.2 per cent between 2012 and 2015, which significantly exceeds inflation,” the commissioner wrote.
Jarvis claims TransLink is doing all it can to save money, but one wonders how looking in the mirror at his own pay packet escaped his attention.
Before TransLink executives continue their push for massive tax increases to pay for their $23 billion wish list, they would be wise to slash their own salaries. It is clear from looking at the marketplace—if one can mutate such a word to include a transit monopoly—that Lower Mainland taxpayers are overpaying.
Comments
18 Comments
Natty
Oct 16, 2013 at 5:40pm
So where's the petition Mr. Bateman? Your organization put one together asking for BC Ferries to be more accountable, how about something similar for Translink???
Urban Despot
Oct 16, 2013 at 7:33pm
"Some TransLink supporters will no doubt suggest that Jarvis had to be paid that much—how else would the agency attract “the best and the brightest”? "
Funny how that only ever applies to the incompetent upper management gang and never seems to apply to lower income people who are highly skilled and competent in their jobs and whose incomes continue to shrink.
Richard C.
Oct 16, 2013 at 7:40pm
What bizarre logic or lack there of. In a growing region, obviously more funding is needed to improve affordable transportation choices for people. Building more rapid transit is more affordable for taxpayers and drivers than expensive new bridges and highways. Please sign the petition for better transit now. Http://www.bettertransitnow.ca/?recruiter_id=5584
Strathconaowner
Oct 16, 2013 at 7:57pm
Can't make up my mind if this guy is just too dumb to be able to do mathematical comparisons, or if he's willfully setting out to deceive. He quotes the amount for the total pay package of the Translink CEO, but then gives only the basic salary without any of the allowances for Clark. Either he thinks we're roo dumb to follow his links or he's purposefully setting out a specious comparison at the behest of his corporate clients.
Evil Eye
Oct 17, 2013 at 7:07am
Yup, TransLink is broke all right, Jarvis and his henchmen are making millions, while the transit system flounders. Sounds like the BC Liberal government, doesn't it.
DavidH
Oct 17, 2013 at 8:31am
Putting this in context with real Translink financial challenges ("their $23 billion wish list") is just silly, political pandering. Paying every executive and manager at Translink nothing more than minimum wage wouldn't make the tiniest dent in the big number.
Bad optics, but meaningless.
It's similiar to the decision to catch those evil fare evaders - it looked great politically, it pandered to a segment of the population, but the savings won't amount to a small pile of beans.
If the so-called Canadian Taxpayers Federation wants to do something useful - tell us how to come up with $23 billion by shaving a few million off the operational costs and avoiding the Libertarian enemy ... a tax increase.
Matt D
Oct 17, 2013 at 9:42am
Not that he isnt over paid, but this pales in comaparison to the financial bath that Translink is going to take on Compass, but since the CTF and Mr. Batement thought that was such a wonderful idea, I dont expect him/them to come out against it now.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation - getting you outraged about comparatively small things while ignoring the big things (that amazingly enough, they almost always seem to support without a hint of irony or shame).
There is a reason why their office is not stocked full of economists and professional accountants, and it has a everything to do with academic and professional integrity.
Matt D
Oct 17, 2013 at 9:59am
@ Strathconaowner
"He quotes the amount for the total pay package of the Translink CEO, but then gives only the basic salary without any of the allowances for Clark. Either he thinks we're roo dumb to follow his links or he's purposefully setting out a specious comparison"
Pretty standard CTF practice.
A few years ago, Mike Klassen, who is no longer with them, claimed that Family Day in BC would cost small business owners %40 more than it actually would in statutory holiday pay.
He did this by using the average wage in BC, for all employees and industries, as a proxy. Of course, this inflates the total because it includes wages for those not employed in small business and those in other sectors, such as public healthcare and education.
You can search StatsCan data for average wages by sector, industry, and size of business.
As it turns out, the average wage for those in a "small business" defined as less than fifteen employees, was
%40 less than what Mike Klassen claimed.
When I emailed a reply to point out the error, I was told that Klassen had been "accurate enough" and that I should be "more concerned about destroying the economy" than "making sure some statistics were accurate"
Prior to that, you had previous CTF ED Muareen Bader claiming that "BC was going to end up like Greece" which is so hyperbolic and misleading that making such a statement should disqualify anyone from taking her seriously about anything where a sum of money greater than $5 is involved.
Their willingness to distort data for ideological purposes is the prime reason I simply cant take the CTF seriously.
That is before I even consider the blatant hypocrisy of their organization's secrecy and unwillingness to be accountable, fully, to the taxpayers it has the hubris to claim to represent.
spartikus
Oct 17, 2013 at 10:17am
This is the sort of populist "truthy" position (I mean who doesn't dislike overpaid fatcats!) that garners headlines, but I mean, really, even if upper management's salary was $0, it's still wouldn't make a dent in Translink's funding woes.
The other thing I would note is sky-rocketing executive compensation out of whack with the rest of society is not unique to Translink. It exists in the private sector too.
It would be nice if groups like the CTF would acknowledge that once in awhile.
Tom
Oct 17, 2013 at 10:27am
Translink is a joke. And all the people on here slagging the CTF, don't ANY of you pay taxes? All you lefties on this board are just like the NDP dough heads!