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WATERLOO REGION — Cambridge members of council racked up the largest travel bills among local municipal politicians for at least the third year in a row, with councillors jetting off to places like Dubai and New York.
In 2017, every member of council went to at least one conference, and six of the nine members went to two. Cambridge councillors billed the city for just over $38,000 in costs to travel to conferences.
That compares to just over $28,000 in travel cost for the 11 members of Kitchener council, $28,000 for the 16 members of regional council and just under $20,000 for the eight members of Waterloo council.
Coun. Mike Mann went the furthest afield, travelling to the Global Cities summit in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in March. He billed the city $5,627 for the weeklong trip. City manager Gary Dyke and Mayor Doug Craig were invited to give a presentation at the summit on how Cambridge uses information from its smart water meters to detect water leaks.
Mann said he went to Dubai after Craig was unable to make the trip. He said going to the summit was valuable because “it was an opportunity to learn where we stand in the world economy,” and it gave him the chance to tout the area as a tech hub.
“It really opened doors for future conversations about economic development,” he said, adding that the networking that goes on at conferences can lead to companies deciding to open plants in Cambridge.
The local politician who logged the most travel was Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, who billed the city $13,242 for nine trips.
They included seven meetings of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, to places such as Whistler and Montreal, as well as two economic development trips: a $4,337 trip to Germany and a $2,688 trip to New York and Boston. Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky and Cambridge Coun. Frank Monteiro also went on the U.S. trade mission.
Regional Chair Ken Seiling pulls in the biggest salary among local municipal politicians, earning $167,845 for his role as chair of the largest municipality in the region and for serving on the Waterloo Region Police Services Board.
Next is Cambridge Mayor Craig, who earned $140,558 as mayor and as a member of regional council.
Because a portion of his pay isn’t taxed, his salary is the equivalent of a fully taxed salary of about $160,000.
Kitchener’s mayor earned $131,552. In Waterloo, Jaworsky earned $129,296. The totals don’t include benefits such as pensions and leased cars.
The province requires all municipalities to report each year on the pay and expenses of council members.
The reports show that taxpayers in Waterloo Region paid out almost $2.4 million for the salaries of the mayors and councillors.
That total will jump in 2019. Now, one-third of the salaries of most local municipal politicians is tax-free, making it difficult to compare a council salary to that of a typical working person, who pays tax on their entire pay.
The region is the only one of the eight municipal councils in Waterloo Region that fully taxes council salaries.
It eliminated the tax-fee exemption in 2003 to be transparent about the salaries of the region’s elected officials.
The federal government ordered all municipalities to eliminate tax-free salaries by 2019. Most council salaries will rise to ensure take-home pay doesn’t shrink after the change is implemented.