Ballymoney councillors earn almost £250,000 in one year

Figures obtained by the Times show that it cost a whopping 227,592 to pay councillors wages between April 2009 and March 2010.

Ballymoney has 16 councillors but the figures for this year involve 17 councillors because DUP representative Robert Halliday replaced his party colleague Roy Wilson although split pro-rata the payments for the two were effectively for one councillor throughout the year.

Overall at Ballymoney Council, each councillor gets a basic yearly allowance of almost 10,000 - the exact figure is 9,738. Cllr Halliday was paid a pro-rata figure of 6,571and Cllr Wilson got 2,375.

The total 'Basic Allowance' figure for all the Ballymoney councillors was 155,016.

Councillors can earn extra money if they are on the District Policing Partnership and the total amount for ten councillors was 26,670.

During the year a special 'Transition Committee' was running to smooth the handover to a bigger council which has now been halted but that cost 2,700 a head for five councillors which left a total tab of 13,500.

In Ballymoney Council they also have what they call 'Special Responsibility' payments which accounted for 15,400 while another 13,365 was for travel and subsistence.

Ballymoney councillors can also claim for use of telephones and that cost 2,961 while one councillor had a carer allowance of 680.

Under the 'Special Responsibility' figures the Mayor gets the highest amount but there are also payments for the Deputy-Mayor and Chairs and Vice-Chairs of Committees.

When all the payments are combined the highest Council earners in the 2009-10 financial year are as follows: 1. former Mayor Frank Campbell (DUP) - 19,768; 2. John Finlay (DUP) - 18,236 (who was also Mayor for part of the financial year); 3. Ian Stevenson (DUP) - 17,867; 4. Evelyne Robinson (DUP) - 16,775; 5. Cecil Cousley (DUP) - 16,036; 6. Malachy McCamphill (SDLP) - 15,695; 7. Philip McGuigan (Sinn Fein) - 15,174; 8. Anita Cavlan (Sinn Fein) - 14,887; 9. James Simpson (Ulster Unionist Party) - 14,505; 10. Tom McKeown (Ulster Unionist Party) - 13,863; 11. Harry Connolly (SDLP) - 12,993; 12. Audrey Patterson (Traditional Unionist Voice) - 10,767; 13. Bill Kennedy (Ulster Unionist Party) - 10,043; 14. Mervyn Storey (DUP) - 9,954; 15. Daithi McKay (Sinn Fein) - 9,918; 16. Robert Halliday (DUP) - 8,291; 17. Robert Wilson (DUP) - 2,820.

Looking at the figures more indepth, the table topper, Cllr Campbell earned 3,192 as Mayor and his basic allowance of 9,738 was also was topped up by 2,700 from the Transition Committee and 2,520 from the District Policing Partnership as well as travel and subsistence of 1,402 and telephone expenses.

Cllr Cavlan got almost 4,000 for her District Policing Partnership work where she was Chairperson and the current DPP Chair, Cllr McKeown got 3,570 through the DPP during the financial year.

Otherwise the basic DPP fee for a councillor was 2,520.

The breakdown of 'Special Responsibility' payments was as follows: 1. Frank Campbell - 3,192; 2. John Finlay - 2,075; 3. Cecil Cousley - 1,875; 4. Evelyne Robinson - 1,600; James Simpson - 1,600; Ian Stevenson - 1,600; 7. Harry Connolly - 1,183; 8. Anita Cavlan - 500; 9. Malachy McCamphill - 500; 10. Roy Wilson - 400; 11. Tom McKeown - 375; 12. Robert Halliday - 250; 13. Bill Kennedy - 125; Audrey Patterson - 125. Only three councillors - Daithi McKay, Philip McGuigan and Mervyn Storey - did not get any 'Special Responsibility' payments.

Looking at the Transition Committee and five councillors - Frank Campbell, John Finlay; Philip McGuigan; James Simpson and Ian Stevenson each received 2,700.

On the travel and subsistence front the league table was as follows; 1. Malachy McCamphill - 2,757; 2. Evelyne Robinson - 2.057; 3. Harry Connolly - 1,892; 4. Cecil Cousley - 1,723; 5. Frank Campbell - 1,402; 6. Ian Stevenson - 1,093; 7. John Finlay - 987; 8. Audrey Patterson - 724; 9. Anita Cavlan - 443.; 10. James Simpson - 287.

Seven councillors - Robert Halliday, Bill Kennedy; Philip McGuigan; Daithi McKay; Tom McKeown; Mervyn Storey and Robert Wilson - did not receive any payments under 'Travel and Subsistence'.

Regarding telephone calls the maximum amount claimed by any councillor was 216 although many councillors got 180.