Figures show more than £620,000 worth of expenses were imbursed to Dundee councillors over the 2016-17 financial year.
The money spent, totalling £622,992.25, includes councillor’s annual salaries, mileage costs, travel expenses and telephone expenses. The previous year’s total was £612,095.06.
Unsurprisingly, former administration leader Ken Guild was paid the highest annual salary of £33,789.
Mr Guild, who was an elected member in the city for the SNP for more than three decades, retired from politics at this year’s local election.
The former Ferry councillor was awarded only one additional expense on top of his salary in his final year as council leader – £126.32 for telephone charges.
Council members are entitled to claim 50% of their personal line rental costs for approved duties, plus other telephone and computer costs including business calls. Members are also offered a contract mobile phone paid for by the council.
Councillors Brian Gordon and Helen Wright and former Depute Lord Provost Christina Roberts were the only members to claim for telephone expenses, on top of those paid by the council.
Mr Gordon claimed £60 in telephone expenses, on top of the £264.47 paid by the council, Ms Wright claimed £90 in addition to the £134.65 paid by the council and Ms Roberts claimed £125.95 on top of the £179.01 already paid by the local authority.
A councillor’s basic annual salary was £16,893 for the 2016-17 session, which has been increased by £34 for the 2017-18 session to £16,927.
Convenership salaries last year totalled £22,438, which will increase slightly to £22,483 over the next financial year.
The new administration leader – John Alexander – will receive a slightly increased salary of £33,857, up on last year by £68.
Councillor Fraser Macpherson, the Lib Dem representative for the West End ward, donated £1047 from his councilor salary to the Dundee Festival Trust.
Mr Macpherson confirmed he would continue to donate a portion of his councillor salary to charitable causes in the city.
It is also noted that Scottish Conservative Bailie Derek Scott has forgone previous salary increases amounting to £412.
Recently-retired Lord Provost Bob Duncan was awarded the highest value of expenses, worth £1154.52.
As civic leader of Dundee City Council, Mr Duncan’s expenses were covered by the Scottish Government, who provide an allowance of £3,000 per local authority for that leader to conduct the duties required of their position.
This is in addition to the Lord Provost’s annual salary of £25,341.
More than £40,000 of the total expense bill was paid toward the council’s civic cars – one used by the Lord Provost to take him to public ceremonies and civic events and another for use by other councillors and chief officers for attending meetings and other events.
The amount spent includes the running costs for each vehicle and the salaries for those driving the cars.
The total salary bill for councillors 2016-17 was £582,972.86 and the total awarded expenses was £6875.86.
A full list of all members expenses can be viewed here. The previous year’s are here.
