Golden goodbyes await outgoing elected officials
Councillors eligible for in excess of $1 million in retirement payouts
Elected officials in seven Metro Vancouver municipalities will be eligible for more than $1 million in retirement payouts if they decide not to run again or are defeated in October’s municipal election.
This spring, Metro Vancouver’s board of directors voted to give themselves a retroactive retirement allowance that would have cost the regional district $498,000 in retroactive earnings and $62,500 in the future. After public outcry, the controversial allowance was rescinded a month later.
Though the regional allowance did not stick, such allowances are offered in seven of Metro’s 21 municipalities to council members who are not re-elected or decide not to run again. Each is calculated using a different formula.
Coquitlam Coun. Teri Towner, who has proposed an independent process for determining remuneration for municipal politicians, called the variety of benefits across the region and province “a willynilly inconsistent patchwork.”
Vancouver councillors receive deferred remuneration if they serve their full term of office. The amount is equivalent to one week’s salary for each year of office served, based on the salary received during that year in office. The amount is paid in their final paycheque.
VANCOUVER
Vancouver councillors are eligible to receive a total of almost $140,000 after this fall’s election. It’s the lowest amount of any Metro municipality that provided information to Postmedia, in spite of having the largest council.
Mayor Gregor Robertson and councillors George Affleck, Kerry Jang, Raymond Louie, Andrea Reimer and Tim Stevenson have announced that they won’t run again. Robertson will receive the largest amount of deferred remuneration at $28,843.87.
Affleck will be paid $9,670.64, Jang $13,202.51, Louie $19,114.47, Reimer $13,202.51 and Stevenson $19,114.47.
Coun. Geoff Meggs, who left office in July 2017 to become chief of staff for Premier John Horgan, has already received $7,335.73 for the almost three terms he spent as a councillor.
SURREY
Surrey set up a separation allowance after the 2008 election. It’s equivalent to the contribution the city would have made to the municipal pension plan if the council member were instead an employee of the city. It only includes service after December 2008 and is capped at the most recent 12 years of continuous service.
Council members in Surrey are eligible for a total of more than $450,000.
Mayor Linda Hepner and councillors Mary Martin and Judy Villeneuve have said they aren’t running again. Hepner will get $84,251.44, Martin $60,862.40 and Villeneuve $61,703.60.
NEW WESTMINSTER
New Westminster’s mayor and councillors are entitled to a separation allowance when they finish their terms in office, which is equivalent to 10 per cent of their annual indemnity for each year of service, to a maximum of 12 years. Council members are eligible for a total of $228,584.46.
If he’s not re-elected, Mayor Jonathan Cote will receive $60,183.28. He joined council in 2005, and is completing his first term as mayor.
Cote said offering such a retirement benefit is important in local government, where someone can dedicate years of their life to serving their community. He said federal and provincial governments offer more generous pensions.
“I think, compared to other levels of government, provincially and federally, this is a very minor retirement benefit, but I think it is important,” he said.
Cote said he sees value in looking at ways to make retirement benefits more consistent across municipalities.
“The inability of local elected officials to be part of the municipal pension plan has actually created this situation,” he said. “I think if mayors and council were allowed to be part of the same pension plan as employees of local governments, that itself would bring its own consistency.”
DELTA
For the first time, Delta council members will receive council service benefits equivalent to the contribution the city would have made to the municipal pension plan if the council members were employees. It applies to the most recent 12 years of continuous service and is paid out in a lump sum.
If all members of council decide not to run or are not re-elected, they would be eligible for a total of $355,610.
Mayor Lois Jackson, the second longest-serving sitting mayor in Metro Vancouver, will receive $124,153 when she retires after this term. She was elected mayor in 1999, and has been on council since 1973. Coun. Heather King is also leaving, and she’ll receive $19,820.
Coun. Ian Paton, who was elected MLA for Delta South in last spring ’s provincial election, would have been entitled to $39,511 if he had stayed until the end of his current term, but his early departure resulted in a reduced amount.
PORT COQUITLAM
Following this election will be the first time a transition allowance will be offered in Port Coquitlam. In 2015, the city set up a transition allowance that is equivalent to one month of pay for every year in office to a maximum of six months.
However, it’s only available to the mayor.
Mayor Greg Moore, who has been in his position since 2008 and has he won’t be running for re-election, will receive $48,376.
RICHMOND
Richmond has offered a retirement allowance for council members since 2006, acting on the recommendation of an independent panel that looked at benefits and remuneration. The amount is based on the rate the municipal pension plan charges the city for employer contributions to staff pensions, about 10 per cent of remuneration.
Richmond was unable to provide specific amounts for council members by Postmedia’s deadline.
NORTH VANCOUVER CITY
Council members receive a lump sum retraining and adjustment payout 90 days after they complete their service. It’s based on their pay during the length of their time on council and on the city’s share of municipal pension plan contributions for city staff.
Only Mayor Darrell Mussatto has said he won’t be running again. He’s served on the city ’s council for almost 25 years, including four terms as mayor.
INDEPENDENT PROCESS SOUGHT
To avoid the kind of controversy that usually follows conversations about municipal elected official remuneration, Coquitlam council last month unanimously passed a motion asking the Union of B.C. Municipalities to examine the issue and establish an independent process that can help local governments set fair and equitable remuneration. It will be raised at the union’s annual convention.
Coquitlam city Coun. Teri Towner, who made the motion, said that retirement benefits definitely fall under the broad umbrella of remuneration.
“It’s such a patchwork in our province,” she said.
“Some people get elected to council and they get no pension, no retirement allowance, nothing — and other councils do. It’s completely inconsistent.”
Towner said she’s not advocating such a benefit in Coquitlam and ran knowing she would receive no such payout, but she wants to see some fairness and consistency, without the cynicism and backlash that usually accompanies remuneration decisions.