A former TransLink executive who was recruited from Chicago racked up $104,315 in expenses last year, according to a report detailing the cash-strapped transit company’s finances.

Michael Shiffer worked for TransLink from 2009 until his position was eliminated earlier this year, and made more than $292,000 in gross earnings in 2011.

Meanwhile, his expenses more than doubled anyone else at the company – including president Ian Jarvis, who spent just $7,228, according to TransLink’s Statement of Financial Information.

The second-highest spender was Phil Christie, who charged $49,938 in 2011, and Peggy Hunt, who tallied $21,068.

TransLink didn’t provide a detailed cost breakdown of the expenses, but Jarvis commented on the numbers Tuesday, blaming part of Shiffer’s sum on the cost of bringing him to British Columbia years earlier.

“There [were] relocation expenses related to that and an event took place that triggered the payment,” Jarvis said.

The company says part of the relocation expenses included retaining a company to help sell Shiffer’s Chicago home, which didn’t happen until late 2010. TransLink then received the bill the following year.

TransLink’s Mayors' Council vice chair Peter Fassbender added that the costs were justified by the benefit Shiffer brought to the company.

“You have to put that into context and that is a one-time isolated situation, and he brought a lot of value in the time that he was with us,” Fassbender said.

The chair said the other employees with the highest expenses were also expected to travel, sometimes internationally to conferences.

Christie’s position, like Shiffer’s, has also been cut as part of a senior management reduction strategy that Fassbender says has saved upwards of $30 million.

There could be more cuts to come after the provincial government’s audit of the company, which is expected to be completed by the end of August.

The same financial report also revealed that the Transit Police Force costs roughly $30 million per year to run, and that 59 of the 169 members earn more than $100,000 annually.

The highest police salary is $147,000.

Jordan Bateman of the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation says the numbers don’t make sense because transit police do only a fraction of the work that similarly-paid Vancouver police officers do.

“The average transit police officer only works 10 serious or property crime files a year. That’s a dream. It’s like a slow week for a cop in Whalley,” Bateman said.

With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Maria Weisgarber