A recommendation from Huntsville municipal staff to increase remuneration for two positions on Huntsville Council was put on ice at the April 30 General Committee meeting.
The recommendation presented by staff would apply to the next four-year term of council. Staff was complying with a 2021 bylaw, which requires a Council Pay Review to be conducted every term of council.
According to the staff report, the review cannot be done in the last year of the term and must comply with the bylaw, which sets a benchmark for council remuneration at the 35th percentile among comparator municipalities.
The report is based on data from 11 municipalities used as comparators: Bracebridge, Orillia, East Gwillimbury, Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, Oro Medonte, Essex, Gravenhurst, Springwater, Innisfil, and Essa.
According to the analysis, the deputy mayor and councillor positions fall below the 35th percentile. Staff recommended an option that would raise both positions to the 40th percentile and provide Consumer Price Index Adjustments each year (this year, it changed by 2.31% over last).
Keith Duncan, the Town’s HR manager, recommended that the deputy mayor’s base salary increase from $28,789 to $34,603 annually and that the annual base salary for a Huntsville councillor increase from $26,082 to $28,470, thereby bringing the base rates for both positions to the 40th percentile.
Below is the chart included in the report.
The proposed increases are independent of recent increases passed by the District of Muskoka. (See link to story below).
According to the report, the base remuneration for the Huntsville mayor’s position is $59,310, which falls within the 65th percentile among comparator municipalities. Consequently, the option recommended by staff in the report suggests that the remuneration for the position of mayor be ‘red circled.’
“With the Mayor position currently being compensated at the 65th percentile, that position would be
Red Circled should Council adopt a target pay percentile that is below the 65th percentile. Should be [sic]Mayor’s position become Red Circled, there would be no increases or CPI adjustments applied to that
position until its base rate meets the current pay percentile,” notes the report.
What councillors said
Councillor Cory Clarke was the first to comment on the recommendation. “There aren’t many people in Huntsville that are seeing wage increases right now, and I don’t think that we should see it here either.”
Cory said too much emphasis is being given to other communities while councillor wages should reflect what’s happening in this community. “As I look to the comparators that you’ve used, Keith, in the report, I couldn’t help but think that, you know, when our community is struggling, council increases should reflect on what those in our community are being given for raises,” he said. “I know that staff are going to say, ‘Well, you know, that’s how it’s done. That’s the process that we use, and that’s how it’s always been done,’ but it doesn’t have to be… the only increase that I would be willing to look at would be an annual cost of living increase at this time right now, and that’s what I would support. I wouldn’t support any of the other options listed.”
Councillor Helena Renwick concurred. She said she would be comfortable just giving the next term of council a cost of living increase.
Councillor Monty Clouthier concurred with both Clarke and Renwick. He said he agrees with increasing council remuneration by the cost of living but said he’d also like to see health benefits considered.
“I concur about the medical stuff, that’s something that I think should be considered,” said Councillor Scott Morrison.
Deputy Mayor Dan Armour said he understood his fellow councillors’ stance, but said he is concerned about falling further behind. “If we don’t try to play a little catch-up now, we’re talking six years from now… and I hate to see the taxpayer at that time be hit with a huge increase, so I think we need to really think about where we want to be or where we want to set the next council in relationship to the other communities in the area because we are the biggest town. We have more amenities, etc., that we have to deal with, and I know myself, currently as the deputy-mayor, following the mayor, it’s almost a full-time job… and I’m sure my fellow councillors around here are receiving emails all through the day and night, phone calls in the weekend, etc., that you have to attend to…we put in a lot of hours,” said Armour, adding that it’s always a tough discussion to increase compensation for your position. He told councillors that if they sit down and figure out what their compensation is when compared to the hours they put in, “you’re probably below minimum wage.”
Councillor Jason FitzGerald said the discussion is never an easy one. He said he agrees with everyone, including the deputy mayor. He said he believes the demands on the position of deputy mayor are greater than they’ve ever been, so that should be looked at.
He said when the Town experienced a cyber incident, “we seriously had a consideration of looking at IT provided by the Town rather than personal laptops… for reasons of security. So I don’t know if that becomes a consideration in remuneration as well, but I don’t think I’m prepared to support anything today.” With Mayor Nancy Alcock, Councillors Dione Schumacher, and Bob Stone away, he said that the discussion and decision should be made with a full council present.
Morrison said he supports cost of living increases as well as an increase to the deputy mayor’s position. “And I actually think an increase at this table is more warranted than the increase at the District table based on most of our work is done in our wards, so I think I’d love to see a full discussion when we come back,” he said, adding that staff could also be asked to bring back other items for discussion such as a smaller or phased-in amount.
“We all spend more time at these jobs than part-time,” said Councillor Clark, but added that none of the councillors are in it for the money. “We do it because we want to improve our communities, but I would totally support a deferral. I agree with Councillor FitzGerald; I think it’s important to get full council’s interaction on what they feel,” he said, while also adding that he still does not believe he will change his mind.
In the end, council voted in favour of deferring a decision and asked staff to further explore things like health benefits and IT support, and return with an updated r to General Committee in May.
You can find the staff report HERE (pdf).
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Next term of District council to see significant pay increases
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Its a funny thing that council and government keep getting raises in this economy. Pretty much most of huntsville havent received a raise in years and im talking about the bigger companies. How can we keep up with paying these raises and increased property taxes. If you are trying to get people to move out of Huntsville your doing a good job. Between the government and town council the poor and middle class are not able to keep paying their bills.
Finally some fiscal responsibility when it comes to salary .The District discussion was a a farce ! Stay off the Council Merry-go-round with the other municipalities. It is bad enough You have to engage in bidding wars to compete for competent staff with other towns and the District.