London city hall has published its annual list of salaries for elected and appointed officials.

The report published by city hall Thursday is a list of salaries of expenses for elected and appointed officials only and does not include all employee groups of the City of London.

Under provincial law, the city treasurer must publish an annual list of salaries, benefits and expenses of each member of council and any official appointed by council for the preceding year by March 31.

For 2019, the highest spending councillor was Mo Salih at $80,284.13, followed closely by Josh Morgan at $80,052.97. The thriftiest when it came to spending was Michael van Holst, whose salary, benefits and expenses added up to $63,761.26. The full list is below:

Elected Officials

ELECTED OFFICIAL SALARY BENEFITS EXPENSES TOTAL Mayor Ed Holder $139,850.20 $42,813 $12,841 $195,505.07 Councillor Michael van Holst $45,510.51 $14,808.77 $3,441.98 $63,761.26 Councillor Shawn Lewis $52,130.51 $13,471.34 $9,858.82 $75,460.67 Councillor Mohamed Salih $52,130.51 $16,337.72 $11,775.90 $80,284.13 Councillor Jesse Helmer $52,130.51 $14,657.91 $949.63 $67,738.05 Councillor Maureen Cassidy $52,244.12 $15,561.69 $7,845.91 $75,651.72 Councillor Phil Squire $52,130.51 $14,197.23 $3,265.64 $69,593.38 Councillor Josh Morgan $52,130.51 $15,847.96 $12,074.50 $80,052.97 Councillor Steve Lehman $52,130.51 $14,556.00 $6,610.14 $73,432.90 Councillor Anna Hopkins $52,130.51 $12,703.90 $10,181.90 $75,016.31 Councillor Paul van Meerbergen $52,130.51 $14,376.64 $1,713.68 $68,220.83 Councillor Stephen Turner $52,130.51 $14,531.30 $6,771.09 $73,432.90 Councillor Elizabeth Peloza $52,130.51 $16,760.93 $8,765.17 $77,656.61 Councillor Arielle Kayabaga $52,130.51 $15,872.55 $9,011.88 $77,014.94 Councillor Steve Hillier $52,130.51 $16,528.87 $3,813.46 $72,472.84 Total: $863,170.95 $253,026 $108,921 $1,225,294.58

Mayor's office

The report also included spending by the Mayor's office. Under city bylaws, the mayor's office is required to provide an annual report about its spending to council.

TOTAL Hosting/Entertainment: Used for hosting dignitaries, guests and special events requiring ticket purchase. $3,066.65 Gifts & Souvenirs: Purchases include City of London pins and promotional material for citizens, visitors and dignitaries. $550.43 Purchased Services: Includes translators, braille and services related to the State of the City Address. $7,676.94 London Jobs Now Initiative: Expenses related to the Mayor's signature economic policy. $2,347.47 Total: $13,641.49

Sunshine list preview

The City of London also published the first in a series of filings that make up its 2019 Sunshine list, the annual salary disclosure showing which city hall employees earned the most in salaries and benefits for the year.

The now 24-year-old law passed under the Progressive Conservative government of then Premier Mike Harris requires any organization that receives provincial funding to disclose salaries and benefits of any employee paid $100,000 or more.

While some say the law is necessary to reign-in potential largesse by government officials, critics of the 1996 law say it's outdated because $100,000 no longer holds the value it once did.

Using the Bank of Canada inflation calculator, a salary of $100,000 in 1996 is the equivalent of $155,454.55 in 2020, a change of 55.45 per cent based on an average annual inflation rate of 1.86 per cent.

Thursday's preview was a summary and does include full details. It was published in a report to the city's corporate services committee and included the following numbers of employees who made $100,000 or above:

300 London firefighters

183 City of London managers

Six unionized employees with the London Civic Employees Local Union No. 107

Four unionized employees with the Service Employees International Union Local 1 Canada

Five employees with RBC Place (previously known as the London Convention Centre).

The report indicated the above list did not include salary disclosures for all employee groups and that the city's agencies, boards and commissions report salaries on their own.