DENBIGHSHIRE County Council’s chief executive received a pay rise of more than 21 per cent last year, the Free Press can reveal.
Mohammed Mehmet was paid a total of £160,414 last year - up from £132,432 in 2009/10 and more than Prime Minister David Cameron - who was on £142, 500 for the same period.
The authority says the rise is due to Dr Mehmet’s returning officer duties last year.
The 2010/11 year figures consist of a salary of £131,667 (including fees and allowances) and pension contributions of £28,747.
Chief executives in neighbouring Wrexham, Gwynedd and Conwy Councils are on at least £20,000 less than Dr Mehmet.
Meanwhile Denbighshire’s corporate director for environment received a bonus of £77,427 last year and the chief finance officer a bonus of £55,898.
The figures come as Denbighshire Council goes through the budget process for 2012/13 and tries to make savings in the region of £4 million.
Dr Mehmet, who began his chief executive duties at Denbighshire in May 2009, started the job on £125,000 a year, following on from the sudden exit of £110,000 a year predecessor Ian Miller in November 2008.
Project manager Kevin Welman, 55, from Llandegla, said: “When everyone is being squeezed with higher costs of living with salaries and pensions being either frozen or reduced, particularly in the public sector it was a little disconcerting to see that the CEO of Denbighshire County Council was awarded an increase of 21per cent in 2011,” he said.
“I accept that with the scale of equivalent positions in the private sector these salaries are not comparable, however I fail to see the justification for this level of increase when compared to the other councils who have approved low or frozen salaries.”
A spokesman for Denbighshire County Council said: “The additional funding paid to the chief executive was for his duties as North Wales regional returning officer during the elections which is reimbursed by the Assembly.
“The other figures relate to a restructure at senior management level which was carried out two years ago and has resulted in savings in the region of £400k to date.”
The chief executive for Wrexham Council received £133,247 last year, compared to £132,486 the previous year.
Conwy Council’s chief executive Byron Davies was paid £137,436 in 2010/11, up on £134,437 the year before.
In Gwynedd Council, chief executive Harry Thomas’ salary stayed the same between 2009 and 2011 at £130,891.
Flintshire Council’s chief executive Colin Everett took home £171,543 including pension contributions for 2010/11, up on £167,374 the year before.
In addition the chief executives of Liverpool, Aberdeen, Southampton, Argyll and Bute, Luton, Leeds, the Isles of Scilly, Angus and The Wirral local authorities all earned less than Mohammed Mehmet in 2010/2011.