West Kelowna councillor, mayor salaries could rise

Salaries for West Kelowna’s mayor and councillors could be going up.

Current salaries for the elected officials are somewhat below those paid in similarly-sized B.C. cities, West Kelowna municipal staff say.

The mayor's pay in West Kelowna last year was $65,870, and councillors earned $22,357.

By comparison, the mayor's position in Penticton, which is slightly smaller than West Kelowna in terms of population, pays $66,238. And the mayor's pay in Vernon is $72,510.

At today's meeting, West Kelowna councillors will have to decide what changes, if any, to make to the current practice of pegging salaries to annual changes in the consumer price index.

One idea from staff is to “re-set” the mayor's pay to the midpoint of a range of similarly-sized B.C. cities, and increase councillors pay to 40 per cent of the mayor's.

That would boost the West Kelowna mayor's pay to $71,101, and raise councillors’ salary to $28,440.