The village’s civic leadership is considering giving itself a raise.
A report presented to the council this week suggests that council paychecks are below the provincial average, and our municipal politicians should be paid more.
“A review of the payroll records indicate that council has not received a remuneration increase since 2015,” the report states. “There does not seem to be a rationale or standard on the increases received in the past.”
Council pay has been set somewhat haphazardly, the report says. A bylaw set the pay levels in the mid-90s, but was abandoned in 2004 (but never rescinded). There was no increase at all from 2004-2008, when council adopted a new bylaw tying pay to the village’s CUPE contract. However, the report says increases don’t seem to match the CUPE contract.
That bylaw worked until 2015, but there’s been no increase since.
The report suggests a new council remuneration bylaw that would tie wages to the Canadian Price Index.
“This will ensure council receives an increase every year, and they do not have to wait until a new CUPE contract is settled,” the report says. It will also make budget planning easier, and let potential council candidates in an election year know what the pay would be.
Right now the mayor is paid $12,900, well below the provincial average of $15,656 for similar-sized communities. A councillor in Nakusp pulls down $6,450, below the provincial average of $8,632.
If a new pay by-law is adopted, the mayor would receive $13,158 and councillors $6,579. That reflects the 2017 Canadian Price Index increase of two per cent.
But even that won’t be all take-home pay. The federal government eliminated a deduction for local politicians that exempted 1/3 of their salaries for out-of-pocket expenses. Their salaries are now fully taxable.