Major pay hikes urged for mayor, council

An advisory committee is recommending major increases to city council members’ pay.

It’s calling for a $29,063 boost to mayor Lyn Hall’s annual salary and for a $6,828 jump in the amount councillors earn.

If the hikes are approved at council’s regular meeting on Monday night, Hall will pull down $127,889 per year if he’s re-elected in October while council members will take home $39,764.

Much of that jump is in answer to the loss of the tax-free allowance for elected officials, to come to an end on Jan. 1, 2019. In a report to council, the committee “strongly and unanimously” recommended a 22-per-cent increase for Hall and a 12-per-cent one for councillors to make up for that loss.

The committee also recommended a further 4.5-per-cent rise for the mayor and six-per-cent for councillors, noting they have not received a substantial increase since 2010 and have since fallen behind the average for peer communities.

The committee also called for an expansion of eligible expenses to include community events, workshops and membership dues related to council work and to set the mayor’s monthly vehicle allowance at $1,065 inclusive of kilometres driven – the average of four comparison municipalities. The allowance is currently set at $325.

The committee is made up of chair Cori Ramsay and members Tim Drummond, Lee-Ann Mowbray, Heather Sanford and Harvey Smerychynski.

They will make a presentation to council on Monday night and council will consider a bylaw setting the new levels afterwards.

If the hikes are approved at council’s regular meeting on Monday night, Hall will pull down $127,889 per year if he’s re-elected in October...