County’s $12 million ‘Sunshine List’ alarms councillor

By Sharon Harrison
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.

Provincial legislation requires the annual publication of the names, positions, salary and taxable benefits of municipal employees whose gross taxable earnings exceed $100,000 in any given calendar year.

Extending to 92 municipal employees spanning numerous departments, the salary disclosure included individual annual salaries ranging from $101,637, up to $256,894. And in many cases, taxable benefits are in addition to salaries. While some positions are senior management and director level, others included planning staff, firefighters, personal support works and nurses, museum staff, engineers, technicians and mechanics, and an executive assistant, among them.

Arryn McNichol, director of finance and information technology (2025 salary disclosure: $201,239) said the number of employees that ended up on the list was atypical where he provided some context.

The number of employees has increased over time he said, where he supplied justifications due to structural factors, such as the non-indexed disclosure threshold, payroll timing effects, collective agreement settlements, salary progression through established salary grids, and job evaluation outcomes.

He also attributed some of the higher-than-expected figures to the fact that in 2025 there were 27 (rather than 26) bi-weekly pay periods, something he said that only occurs typically once every 11 years, thereby indicating higher gross taxable earnings being reported in the calendar year, even though salaries hadn’t necessarily changed.

Councillor Kate MacNaughton said around 15 per cent of those on the list probably wouldn’t be on the list if there hadn’t been the additional pay period.

Councillor Chris Braney said he was “deeply concerned” at the significant increase in the number of employees on the list. He noted that in 2023, there were 64 staff members on the list, a number that in 2025 has risen to 92, a 43 per cent increase in just two years.

“Looking further at my numbers, in 2023, Prince Edward County had approximately one Sunshine List employee for every 406 residents. By comparison, Belleville sits closer to one for every 240 residents. Even then, Prince Edward County consistently ranks among the highest in Ontario for Sunshine List density on a per-capita basis among single-tier municipalities,” shared Braney.

“What made the 2025 report feel even more alarming is not just the number of employees, it’s the total payroll value,” he said, outlining how the cost of the 92 employees now exceeds $12 million per year.

“At a time when our municipality is facing significant infrastructure gap, rising water rates and increasing financial pressure, this figure becomes a lightning rod for taxpayers,” he said. “Residents are asking valid questions about priorities and fiscal responsibility.“

“How did we get here? How has this level of growth occurred without a corresponding increase in population, and more important, without residents feeling an improvement service delivery?” asked Braney. “Right now, many residents feel they are being asked to carry more through higher taxes, deteriorating road infrastructure and the depletion of reserves while the municipality appears to be expanding costs at the top end of its workforce.”

This is not sustainable and we need account, we need transparency, and most importantly, we need a clear and immediate plan to address what is becoming an unnecessary financial strain on Prince Edward County, expressed Braney. “Because, at the end of the day, our responsibility is not to the system, it is to the residents who are struggling to keep it up.”

Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Adam Goheen (2025 salary disclosure: $209,207 945) said they need to be accountable from all the salaries received from the taxpayers and that they are being compensated appropriately, where he explained that various work and organizational review is underway to look at it.

“We are committed to making sure that we are set-up the right way, that we have the right people to provide those services, and we are getting the ship right,” said Goheen.

“When it comes to the level of the pay scale, whether you are an engineer, a director, a finance director, a CAO, are we going to be looking at, are we at the right pay scale,” asked councillor Phil St-Jean.

“Are we overpaying, are we under paying?” he asked, adding that in the past the municipality has seen a much higher voluntary exit because staff were not being paid what they were worth, or what the market, more appropriately, bears, resulting in a constant high turnover.

“Are you going to be looking into, are we at the right levels?” he asked the CAO (the CAO said the review was already being carried out by a third party).

McNicol said the intent of the legislation is to promote transparency and accountability in the use of public funds. The salary disclosure document will be published by the province on March 31.

He explained that the disclosure provides high-level compensation information and is not intended to assess individual performance or explain role complexity or working conditions. He further noted the $100,000 disclosure threshold was established when the legislation was introduced in the mid-1990s and has not been indexed to inflation.

“As a result, the number of employees appearing on the Sunshine List has increased over time due to normal wage growth, collective bargaining outcomes, and changes in job responsibilities. If the Sunshine List threshold had been indexed purely for inflation since 1996, it would roughly be $180,000 in 2025 dollars, not $100,000.”

Councillor John Hirsch pointed out that the salary disclosure list has become “not a good indicator of anything anymore”, also indicating that $100,000 of wages in 1995 when this started, is approximately equivalent to $200,000 today.

“On that basis, on a properly revised Sunshine List, we only have four current employees over $200,000, so it becomes something that everyone likes to focus on, and it’s not a real thing anymore, in my view,” shared Hirsch, who called it a “phoney” number.

Click here to see the full 2025 Public Sector Salary Disclosure List

Council remuneration
Legislated through the Municipal Act as an annual requirement is the disclosure of salary information and expenses paid to members of council and municipal board appointees, which was also shared by council last week.

Council member salaries come in just under the $30,000 per council member, but with the expenses included (mileage, cell phone, accommodation and meals, committee honorariums, travel, etc.) those figures ranged from $30,144 at low end, to $44,139 at the higher end.

Mayor Steve Ferguson’s base salary was $59,291, rising to over $89,000 with expenses included.

Council’s total remuneration, for its 13 council members and one mayor, amounted to $444,682 for the 2025 calendar year. However, with expenses, etc. included, that figure rises to $551,614.

Goheen did confirm that there is currently a hiring freeze in place within the municipality.

“There are no new positions, only replacements, and even those are being screened as they come through,” he added.

The full salary disclosure listings for both the Sunshine List municipal employees and council members can be found on the agenda, located on the County’s website.