Mr Eldridge’s package is just shy of $400,000, which is around $76,000 more than his predecessor Phil Pinyon.

By comparison, the top bureaucrat in the Sydney City Council is on $439,000, despite managing a budget close to four times larger Wagga council’s.

Mr Eldridge was formally suspended by mayor Greg Conkey on Thursday afternoon after investigators unearthed instances where he had potentially concealed his involvement in matters before council for his own personal gain.

It comes two weeks after The Daily Advertiser revealed Mr Eldridge failed to declare a pecuniary interest over his son’s financial stake in a property development subject to an application for rezoning. 

Mr Eldridge’s salary is comparable to the heads of Newcastle, Wollongong and Penrith councils. 

Wagga Ratepayers’ Community founder Wes Fang said he didn’t like “anybody being paid who's not working” but conceded due process should be followed so as not to interfere with the investigation. 

Former council planning director Andrew Crakanthorp spent 20 weeks on forced leave with full pay while undisclosed “allegations” against him were investigated between January and June 2016.

The findings of Mr Crakanthorp’s council-commissioned investigation still have not been released eight months after he left town. 

The Office of Local Government (OLG) can suspend Mr Eldridge’s right to be paid any fee or other remuneration for up to six months, however it is not known whether it will use its power. 

The state government agency was taken by surprise when Wagga council announced on Thursday Mr Eldridge had been “referred to the OLG”, in what is understood to have been a communications breakdown. 

Wagga councillors were also caught unawares by the announcement the investigation had been referred to Sydney, having only been notified via text message a few minutes before a public statement was released to the media. 

The findings of the OLG investigation will be referred to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, but no timeframe has been set.

Wagga council refused to comment.