Pay raises
At a recent city finance committee meeting, mayor [Dave] Formosa expressed his view that the workload for city elected officials has increased exponentially but the pay has not kept pace. [“Mayor calls for discussion on pay,” October 28]
That article also reported that councillor [Rob] Southcott had taken unpaid leave from his employment while attending to city business, lately losing half of his regular salary. This taxpayer sincerely appreciates the dedication of council members but would not expect them to lose pay while serving. Elective office with the city is not meant to be a full-time job. The Community Charter does recognize that council members may not be able to attend all meetings and does provide that a member of council may be absent for four consecutive regular scheduled meetings or granted leave by council without affecting one’s status to hold public office.
In 2006, council adopted Bylaw 2127 which provides for a base renumeration of $14,000 for a councillor and $35,000 for the mayor, both to be adjusted January 1 each year subject to the BC Consumer Price Index of the previous year.
City records for 2014 show the annually adjusted renumeration for a councillorwas actually $17,582.88 and $44,095.20 for the mayor. The bylaw further provides that one third of these amounts are tax-free, considered an allowance incidental to the discharge of office duties.
In addition to the 2014 renumeration amount of $44,095.20, the mayor received a further $12,933.88 for expenses incurred outside the boundaries of the city, a total cost to the taxpayer of $57,029.08.
When considering this subject, I was reminded of the September 4, 2015 Peak article “Minimum wage bumps up some pay cheques” in which the mayor, from a small business owner point of view, commented on the impending 20-cent hourly increase to the BC minimum wage saying, “We’re not overjoyed about it.”
Will local low wage earners and others be overjoyed should the mayor and councillors move to increase their renumeration and or expense allowances?
George Orchiston
Joyce Avenue
