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The municipality has struggled a lot with the economy and is considering property taxes. At the same time, five former leaders received a good sum when they walked out the door. – Completely incomprehensible, says the former mayor.
Several in the local community in Holmestrand Township reacted when the local newspaper announced that former Sande Councilor Olav Roger Grande (63) receives 411,900 crowns from the township every year until his 70th birthday. The sum is in addition to the pension actually earned, and in total Grande will receive NOK 1.1 million annually for the next six years.
A short time later, it turned out that Knut Johansen (62), a former municipal director of Sande Township, would also obtain a final settlement with payments of up to 800,000 crowns in addition to the pension earned.
While the municipalities of Hof and Holmestrand were merged in 2018 without spending money on final deals for employees, things were different when the municipality of Sande joined the new municipality as of January 1:
The final agreements to which Nettavisen Økonomi has been given access show that the municipality spent a total of NOK 5 million on severance packages for five people in connection with the merger with the municipality of Sande.
The million payments infuriates Alf Johan Svele (H), who was mayor of Holmestrand from 2007 to 2019:
– I think these final packages are as little musical as possible. When we also needed the experience that these people have, it becomes twice as bad. That someone chooses to quit smoking, we have to live with him. But that we will pay more to quit smoking … No, I’m reporting a passport. I don’t get it, says Svele.
Also read: Councilor (63) received a final settlement of almost one million – at the same time he received 1.1 million in annual salary from a new municipality
It comes at the same time as the big cut plans.
The five former municipal leaders of the Sande municipality have received all the final agreements in the form of the so-called service pension upon leaving the municipality in addition to the pension earned:
- Sande Olav Grande Councilor You receive NOK 411,905 annually until you turn 70. This amounts to a total of NOK 2.8 million.
olav roger grande sande avis
GOOD PENSION: Former Sande Councilor Olav Roger Grande left the new Holmestrand Township this summer and struck a deal guaranteeing him a full salary of 1.1 million crowns until he turns 70.
GOOD PENSION: Former Sande Councilor Olav Roger Grande (63) left the new Holmestrand Township this summer and got a deal that guarantees him a full salary of 1.1 million crowns until he turns 70.
- City Manager Knut Johansen You will receive a severance package of NOK 266,113 annually until your 65th birthday in March 2023. The payment will be nearly NOK 800,000 in total.
- Human Resources Director Anne Kristin Larsen Lysell He received monthly payments of NOK 43,286 in addition to the pension between January and June this year. The final package totaled NOK 519,436.
- Bjørn Tollaas, municipal director of culture and education, receives a total of NOK 739,851. You have worked in a part-time position for more than a year and a half, but have received a salary corresponding to a full-time position through a municipality service pension.
- Child Welfare Manager Berit Steen NOK 100,000 was paid in service pension between January and June two years ago.
The final agreements will be known at a time when the municipality of Holmestrand has announced significant savings. It was recently revealed that the municipal administration recommends introducing property tax in Holmestrand for the next budget year as a result of a municipal economy under heavy pressure.
The municipal director also recommends deep cuts in several important business areas and warns that the municipality will cut NOK 61.2 million next year and NOK 127.2 million by 2024.
The case has provoked reactions in the local community, and in the Control Committee (KU) in the municipality of Holmestrand, there is currently a majority to order a survey to examine whether the mayor and the municipal director were in their full right to enter into such agreements finals with municipal leaders.
– There were several newspaper articles about this case before KU decided to deal with it. We note that this is an issue that interests residents, especially at a time when the municipality faces significant cuts in almost all business areas, says KU leader Jon Tunheim, continuing:
– In addition, it is about the reputation of the municipality. And not least, it is important for KU to ensure that the framework is followed, meaning that the municipality treats its employees equally with respect to politically adopted mandates and, of course, laws and regulations.
Do you have tips on how to spend money in municipal Norway? Tip to Nettavisen reporter here.
Read more: Former councilor (61) costs the municipality more than a million in pension each year, at the same time that he earns a million salary from a savings bank
Believe the final agreements are within the restructuring agreement
The online newspaper Økonomi has asked City Director Hans Erik Utne and Mayor Elin Weggesrud (Labor Party) for a series of questions related to the final agreements that have been made between city leaders and the municipality of Holmestrand.
The municipal director Utne writes in an email to Nettavisen that the agreements have been concluded as a result of dismissals, employment contracts and personal accommodation in each individual case. He believes the agreements are based on the guidelines given in a restructuring agreement in connection with the merger.
The agreement, which was discussed at a Joint Committee meeting in 2017, states that no employees will be laid off in connection with the merger. However, exceptionally, the municipality may use special instruments in the form of severance pay, among other things.
– Should these agreements have been treated politically?
-I as municipal director should have informed the political level about these agreements, admits Utne.
Also read: Rådmann received a gold-edged deal worth 1.2 million to finalize: – Very unfortunate for tax morale
Read more: The councilman became a case officer in the new municipality: He withheld millions of salary
He believes that the municipality goes far beyond the agreement
Former Holmestrand Mayor Svele, who at the time negotiated a merger between Hof and Holmestrand without any severance pay for employees, is, to put it mildly, upset about the use of money that has come up.
– It must be said that the Hof councilor chose to resign and that made the job much easier. But we resolved the merger without concluding final deals for five flat øre. Rather than paying people to do nothing, I prefer to pay a little more to support these people during a transition period. It’s strange that you have to pay such a large compensation for voluntarily quitting smoking, Svele says.
The former mayor believes that it is clear that the municipal director has gone far beyond the restructuring agreement by approving the final packages, and believes that it is entirely correct that the control commission now examines whether the agreements should have been considered politically.
– This has to do with healthy peasant wisdom. It is bad that the restructuring funds that the government was so generous in giving us are being used in this way. I don’t think the then Local Government Minister Jan Tore Sanner (H) thought these funds should be used for packages for highly paid municipal employees, says Svele.
The nearly 64-year-old conservative politician believes the city should never have accepted that aging city leaders should pay the gap between pension and full salary as a result of the merger. He reacts strongly to the fact that former councilor Olav Grande, a year younger, can expect annual payments of more than 400,000 for the next seven years.
– It’s completely incomprehensible, says Svele.
Neither Councilor Hans Erik Utne nor Mayor Elin Weggesrud (Labor Party) have wanted to comment on Svele’s criticism.
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