Bayside Council has been successful in its bid to be categorised as a Metropolitan Large Council.
The Minister for Local Government wrote to the council this week announcing that the council had satisfied the criteria to be recognised as a Metropolitan Large Council based on its combined population and non-resident working population of 251,166.
The Bayside Local Government Area has a residential population of 178,770 and a non-resident worker population of 72,770.
Bayside Council mayor Joe Awada announced the re-categorisation in a Mayoral Minute at last night's council meeting.
"This outcome is an acknowledgement of not only the scale of the Bayside community but also its significant contribution to the employment and economic life of metropolitan Sydney," Councillor Awada said.
Last month, Bayside Council was knocked back in its request to be upgraded from a medium to large metropolitan council.
The Local Government Remuneration Tribunal found that Bayside Council did not meet the combined resident population and non-resident working population criteria to be upgraded from its present Metropolitan Medium category.
But the council decided to write to the NSW Local Government Minister, Shelly Hancock requesting review of Bayside's submission to be upgraded.
The council believed the Tribunal erred in its decision by relying on the 2016 Census information.
At the time of the census, the council had not amalgamated and was operating as two autonomous local government bodies, Botany and Rockdale.
Councils categorised as Metropolitan Large have a minimum population of 200,000. This can include more than 50,000 non-residents who work in the local government area.
An upgrading in its category also means an increase in the Mayor's and other Councillors' fees.
Last month, Bayside Council voted to adopt the maximum fee available for a Medium Metropolitan council for the mayor and councillors for 2020/21.
The annual fees set by the Tribunal for councilors for 2020/21 for Medium Metropolitan councils are:
Councillors minimum fee - $13,820, maximum fee - $25,790.
Mayor's minimum fee - $29,360, maximum fee - $68,530.
The fee for Large Metropolitan councils for 2020/21 are:
Councillors minimum fee - $18,430, maximum fee - $30,410.
Mayor's minimum fee - $39,160, maximum fee $88,600.
