Featured image (clockwise around the council table): Councillors Det Schumacher, Jason Fitzgerald, Dan Armour and Nancy Alcock; Town CAO, Denise Corry; General Committee Chair, Councillor Brian Thompson; Town Clerk, Tanya Calleja; Committee Coordinator, Crystal Best-Sararas; Councillor Jonathan Wiebe; Mayor Scott Aitchison; Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano; and Councillor Bob Stone
Huntsville’s Town Council has agreed to effectively reduce the annual increases received by its members for the 2018-2022 term of council. Under a Town bylaw, staff are required to review council’s remuneration once during its term and make recommendations based on comparison with 10 other municipalities: Township of Muskoka Lakes, Town of Bracebridge, Township of Springwater, Town of Blue Mountains, Town of Wasaga Beach, Town of Gravenhurst, Township of Clearview, Township of Oro-Medonte, Town of Midland, and Town of Collingwood.
For the current term of council (2014-2018), a bylaw passed by the previous council outlined an increase for the mayor of $3,000 per year for four years, for the deputy mayor of $1,000 per year for four years, and for councillors $500 per year for four years. In 2018, that will bring annual council remuneration to $43,819 for the mayor, $21,270 for the deputy mayor and $19,270 for councillors. For all there is a one-third tax-free allowance.
All council members also receive a lump sum in lieu of benefits of $1,687 per year, a meeting per diem of $50 per inside meeting and $150 per outside meeting, and councillors receive a $1,500 IT allowance.
Of the 11 municipalities compared in August 2016, Huntsville ranks fourth highest for the mayor’s salary, second last for deputy mayor, and sixth for councillors. (See the comparisons here (PDF).)
Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano referenced the current increases which bring council more in line with the other municipalities and recommended no more than a cost of living or one small lump sum increase for the next term of council.
We are nicely on the chart and we will probably be even more nicely on the chart by the end of another two years. I think we’ve caught up to where we should be.
Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano
But Councillor Jonathan Wiebe didn’t think that recommendation went far enough. “This might be a good time to set an example across the District. Maybe the next time around we leave things where they are. I would entertain a bump for committee chairs but that would be the extent of it.”
Wiebe was alone in his recommendation. A majority of the committee voted to increase council remuneration for the 2018-2022 term by the cost of living based on the core Consumer Price Index (CPI) each year, with all other benefits remaining the same. Only Councillor Wiebe was opposed.
With the Bank of Canada’s aim of keeping the CPI at less than three per cent, and the average over each of the past 20 years being mostly below 2.3 per cent, the proposed increase will likely be less than the annual increases council received for its 2014-2018 term.
A final bylaw incorporating the recommendation provided by General Committee will be presented to Town Council for final consideration.
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