County News
Hangover
The municipality bulked up for boom times that never came
In 2015, just a dozen municipal employees earned $100,000 or more. Last year, 92 folks did, according to the Public Sector Salary Disclosure listing published last week.
Of course, $100,000 in 2015 isn’t the same as 2025. Even when adjusted for inflation to 2015 dollars, the number of municipal employees earning $136,000 (the equivalent of $100,000 today) or more has doubled over the past 10 years. The population of the County, however, hasn’t doubled. Nor has the demand for municipal services. Expectations were raised, but the much heralded population growth boom never materialized.
The County employs about 220 folks, nearly half of whom earned enough to make the Salary Disclosure List last year.
By comparison, Quinte West reports that 77 employees were paid over $100,000 last year. In Brant County—a closer comparable—106 employees made the list in 2024 (the most recent report available).
At least five of the big earners on the County’s listing are no longer employed by the County.
Collectively, the 92 municipal employees who made the list earned $12 million last year. Their compensation consumed almost 15 per cent of the County’s operating budget last year.
It is not as though the County is in vibrant financial health. It finished the year with a deficit of $3 million, according to a report from the County’s finance director to the audit committee this week.
Meanwhile, the County’s only other meaningful source of revenue is drying up. Building fees, development charges, and connection charges in 2026 are tracking at about a quarter of last year’s pace. Building won’t save the County’s finances.
Shire Hall is the epitome of empire building.
Note to our mayor:
Epitome means example, personification.
Empire building means the practice of obtaining more power, responsibility, or staff within an organization for the purposes of self-aggrandizement.
QUOTE from countylive.ca – March 29, 2026:
LINK: https://www.countylive.ca/countys-12-million-sunshine-list-alarms-councillor/
“The County’s public sector salary list (known as the Sunshine List) for those employees earning more than $100,000 for the 2025 calendar year was disclosed to council at last week’s committee of the whole meeting.
While it has always been a publicly-accessible document, where there is requirement to disclose under the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996, it was noted that this is the first time the County has chosen to present the figures at a council meeting, and directly to the public, and to councillors.”
Meanwhile, the Residents/Taxpayers of PEC have been keeping a gobsmacked watchful eye on this increase since 2018.
You’re a little late to the party, Council.
During a recent Action Request, the response I received led me to understand that Adam Goheen, CAO:
“remains the Director of Housing for the time being. During the 2026 Budget deliberations, Council passed Motion 2025-652 which includes the following direction related to the Service Delivery & Organizational Review:
THAT staff be directed to maintain the 2026 staffing complement as proposed and included in the final approved budget, with any future staffing changes or additions to be considered only after the results of these reviews are approved by Council in 2026.”
I am including the link here:
See pg. 16 of: Motions Arising from Closed Session
LINK: https://princeedwardcounty.civicweb.net/document/347364/
One of the many questions for this Mayor, and Council should be, when will these reviews be done, and action taken to downsize? Many of the present members of Council were elected for the 2018-2022 term of Council, and with eight years total experience [2018-2026] covering detailed quarterly reports and an annual budget by the CAO, and being responsible for hiring the previous CAO/Head of Staff, they should be the ones held responsible for the financial mess we now find ourselves in. It would be interesting to know who convinced the CAO, the Mayor and Council that this increase of expensive staffing was warranted for a population that hadn’t shown any signs of increasing to warrant this. I, for one, want to see this sorted out before the 2026-2030 Council is elected in October – they should not be saddled with this mess.
Or, will it take another eight years to fix this? Transparency and Accountability? Still lacking.
In example. The County has 8 Employees in Community Programs with at least three making over 100 grand. Is this necessary? Do we require that number? Why is the salary so high? All questions for a Staffing Review.
The promised staffing review is really needed. Compensation is out of whack.