The City of Trail’s payroll increased almost 19 per cent between 2024 and 2025, but the city manager says there are several reasons, including a quirk of accounting.
In presenting the city’s annual statement of financial information to council last week, Colin McClure explained the rise is due to collective agreements and because the city now has a full complement of management staff, where many positions had previously been vacant for a year to 18 months.
The increase is also the result of the way the calendar fell: there were 27 pay periods last year instead of 26.
Overall, the city paid out more than $8.4 million in wages and expenses in 2025, compared to $7 million in 2024, an increase of over $1.3 million, or 18.9 per cent.
In 2025, 16 employees made at least $100,000, compared to 10 in 2024. Sixty-nine employees also made at least $75,000, versus 49 a year earlier.
Employees who made at least $75,000 accounted for just over 80 per cent of the city’s total payroll in 2025, compared to 67 per cent in 2024.
McClure noted that while the city is required to list all employees who earn at least $75,000, that threshold hasn’t changed in many years. “At the time it made a lot of sense,” he said. “Now it’s more like who’s not on the report rather than who is?”
While staff would like to see the reporting threshold increased, McClure said it doesn’t appear to be a high priority for the provincial government.
Regardless, he said the document, which also includes a list of payments to vendors, is important for the public because it provides transparency around spending.
“For example, if there was $500,000 being spent at Domino’s Pizza, I think the public would want to know what’s going on,” he said.
The top paid staff were as follows:
| Name | Position | Salary | Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colin McClure | Chief administrator/chief financial officer | $282,645 | $14,474 |
| Tracey Butler | Corporate services manager | $194,498 | $2,636 |
| David Moorhead | Acting director of corporate services | $138,839 | $11,495 |
| Craig Speers | Utilities manager | $137,120 | $4,710 |
| Michael Bonacci | Aquatic centre manager | $136,642 | $2,466 |
McClure, Butler, Speers, and Bonacci were also in the top five in 2024. Butler has since retired and Moorhead has taken her position.
On the elected officials side, mayor and council were paid about $204,000 in stipends and expenses in 2025, up from about $186,000 in 2024, mainly due to higher expenses.
| Name | Position | Salary | Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colleen Jones | Mayor | $41,283 | $13,996 |
| Bev Benson | Councillor | $18,970 | $5,306 |
| Paul Butler | Councillor | $19,882 | $12,115 |
| Nick Cashol | Councillor | $18,970 | $418 |
| Thea Hanson | Councillor | $18,970 | $5,943 |
| Terry Martin | Councillor | $18,970 | $1,833 |
| Doug Wilson | Councillor | $18,970 | $9,055 |
| Total | $156,015 | $48,666 |
