By Angela Brown

Inside the Chamber

Council approves salary adjustments

Feb 12, 2019 | 10:53 AM

North Battleford city council approved adjusting remuneration at its meeting Monday to compensate for the loss of a federal tax benefit this year, similar to many other municipalities.

Up until this year all municipal elected officials in Canada were eligible for a federal tax exemption for up to one-third of their remuneration but it was removed in 2019.

Mayor Ryan Bater said the exemption used to help cover costs for councillors’ expenses related to their work on council.

“Most council’s especially urban municipalities have offset that with an increase at the local level,” he said following the meeting. “We saw an increase adopted tonight that partially offsets that, but doesn’t fully offset that.”

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Council agreed to set the mayor’s remuneration retroactive to Jan. 1, 2019 at 78 per cent of a Saskatchewan MLA’s salary. The rate will increase to 80 per cent in 2020, as part of the two-year phase in plan.

Council believes the increase will help a little, while also being mindful of the city’s budget constraints.

It was initially proposed the mayor’s salary would be 70 per cent of a Saskatchewan MLA’s annual indemnity.

At the new rate of 78 per cent of an MLA’s salary, the mayor’s salary would be $75,022 gross in 2019. In 2018 the mayor’s gross salary was $66,384.

A councillor’s remuneration is set at 35 per cent of the mayor’s salary.

Even at the new rate, Bater said council will still experience a loss in take-home pay compared to last year, when factoring in the loss of the federal tax benefit. He estimates his annual salary will be deducted roughly $3,700 after the new rate adjustment.

“That just gives an idea of the scope on this,” Bater said. “The take home pay for this council was still less than it was last year.”

Bater said the change bases his salary on a percentage of an MLA salary, rather than on a city manager salary, which is currently the case.

“The big issue was to amend the formula so that council no longer had the ability to impact its own remuneration on an annual basis,” he said.

Bater mentioned it was difficult for council to decide on a new model for remuneration because it affects them as well as future councils.

During the meeting, Coun. Greg Lightfoot pointed out council members haven’t had a salary increase in the past four years.

Penalties

Council agreed to a new policy change to discourage absenteeism. Councillors who miss too many meetings without approval will see a financial penalty. Those absent from three consecutive meetings of council, committee meetings or budget sessions will have $1,000 deducted. If this scenario happens again, they would be penalized $2,000.

Those who miss six meetings in total per year (not consecutive) will be penalized $500 per meeting.

“I think the expectation is that councillors if they are being remunerated to do a job [they] need to be there to do that job,” Bater said.

He said life circumstances may impact an individual’s ability to attend all council meetings. That’s why council will still be able to approve legitimate absences.

Councillors are also not considered absent when they are away attending to council business.

—

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow