Three weeks before he urged the Russellville Electric Board to increase user rates by more than three percent due to 'declining revenue,' REB Manager Charlie Canida received a raise that saw his base annual pay increase to more than $164,000.
Canida's 2022 salary, $164,093.34, was an increase of $7,831.96 from his 2021 salary of $156,279.38.
Additionally, Canida's compensation package includes $550 per month for his health and medical insurance, raising his pay to $170,693.34, not including his Retirement Systems of Alabama package.
Canida's employment agreement also gives him 26 days each year of annual leave and 14 days per year of sick leave, for a total of 40 paid days off.
Canida also receives all fringe benefits provided to other REB employees and any increases thereto.
The agreement provides that Canida will be furnished “a vehicle to be used in the discharge of his duties...,” or in the alternative, reimbursement for mileage incurred in furtherance of his job duties.
That vehicle, a 2021 GMC Yukon Denali, was purchased by the Russellville Electric Board on August 27, 2021, at a cost to ratepayers of $82,460, according to records obtained by the Franklin Free Press as part of an Alabama Open Records Act request. Canida is provided a gas card as well.
Canida's seven-year contract with the REB was originally entered into on December 16, 2015. That agreement was modified on April 24, 2018, to increase Canida's annual base salary. The agreement calls for Canida to receive a five percent raise each year. The contract runs through the end of 2022.
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