Click here to see ICBC’s Top 5 highest-paid executives.

VICTORIA – Insurance Corporation of British Columbia CEO Jon Schubert will step down this November the corporation announced Thursday after a government audit revealed runaway costs for senior management at the organization.

The audit determined that the number of people earning over $200,000 has increased by 315 per cent in just the last five years.

It also found the corporation has handed out lavish signing bonuses of up to $40,000, has handed out up to $18,500 in annual perks for senior managers and paid one manager $4,500 per month in temporary accommodation when moving.

“There has been a significant increase in both the number of management staff and also the compensation since 2007,” Finance Minister Kevin Falcon said Thursday, adding this covered the time of an unprecedented global economic meltdown.

“That is something – the combination of more people and higher wages – that is both unacceptable and something that is going to change, and change very quickly.”

Falcon added that despite the troubling findings, ICBC has kept rate increases low, at an average of about 0.8 per cent over the last 10 years.

“I am pleased that ICBC has done a good job in keeping rates for drivers down overall,” he said.

In response, ICBC announced Thursday it will get rid of almost 200 employees over the next two years, the majority of which will be managers.

It said it hopes to return operating costs to 2008 levels, which it said would save about $50 million by the end of 2013.

The corporation added that while Schubert will leave the corporation in November, he will continue to collect his full salary as a paid consultant until June 2013.

In 2011, Schubert made $486,541 in total compensation.

jfowlie@vancouversun.com

Click here to see ICBC’s Top 5 highest-paid executives.