Hands up if you would like a pay raise?
Hands up again for those who have actually received an increase in the last two years?
We imagine a lot of hands, ours included, would shoot up at the prospect of receiving more money. However, given the present economic conditions, many employees find themselves being asked to hold the line, or even have their wages reduced.
That is why we were a little disappointed when the County of Barrhead councillors approved, as part its 2017 Rates of Taxation Bylaw on April 18, a 0.5 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) wage increase for themselves.
Just as we were earlier this year when town councillors approved a similar increase for public library and town employees in December.
We don’t begrudge any wage increase a person is able to fairly negotiate or receive and while 0.5 per cent increase for councillors doesn’t amount to much when it comes to a multi-million dollar corporation, it just doesn’t send the right message. In recent weeks, county council have been bracing its residents for potential tax increases, or service cuts.
In order to better understand councillors compensation packages we called county manager Debbie Oyarzun, who told us each councillor receives a base allowance of $880 a month for their core duties, such as attending regular council meetings and preparing for them.
Councillors also receive additional compensation for over and above duties, such as preparing and attending other committee meetings based on workload. The majority of councillors receive an amount equivalent of seven days extra compensation per month, while the deputy reeve and reeve receive nine and 11 days respectively which has been reduced over past years. These honorariums also include councillor benefits, such as Workers’ Compensation and they’re also given a $4,000 budget to attend conventions and or training courses.
On average Oyarzun said county councillors’ annual compensation runs from about $39,000 to over $50,000.
Once again, we are not saying that councillors don’t work for their money, or that it is out of line. It also should be noted that these figures are similar to neigbouring municipalities, but if you are a person who is working full-time, making slightly over minimum wage, as some are in this community and make less than a councillor who is working part-time and then sees them get a COLA increase … well let’s just say the optics aren’t good.
That’s why many municipalities and school boards have a policy where councillors and trustees cannot set their own wages. Yes, they might be able to set them for future boards, but not themselves.
And that is what we are suggesting to both the town and county councils. We believe, whatever the mechanism of deciding a board’s compensation councillors and trustees shouldn’t be able to set their own wages. Not because we feel there will be anything unscrupulous, but just because of the perception.
