Remuneration, plus travel and other expenses, for District of Muskoka Councillors increased by 7.8 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024, rising from $718,357 to $774,381.
According to a District of Muskoka report released today, factors impacting the higher cost include increases to council salaries approved in 2022. (See below). Increase in mileage over last year and expenditures related to the creation of OPP Boards for which councillors who sit on the boards are paid travel expenses and an honorarium.
Committees of Council meet once per month, and while the members can charge for travel, the committee chairs receive an additional $2,000 stipend for chairing the meetings. District of Muskoak Chair Jeff Lehman attends the police board meetings and all the committees, and his travel expenses include cell phone usage, health expenses, attendance at conferences, and the yearly attendance at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities meeting of the Board. The report by District staff amalgamates all of these expenses rather than breaking them down.
In total, Councillors billed $41,679.98 in travel expenses (including the expenses of the District Chair) in 2025. District of Muskoka Chair Cheff Lehman’s expenses were the highest at $16,658.44, followed by Georgian Bay Councillor Peter Copper at $3,303.16 and Lake of Bays Councillor Michael Peppard, who billed $3,086.85 in travel expenses.
Councillor Cooper sits on the Engineering and Public Works Committee, and Councillor Mike Peppard sits on the Board of the Muskoa Watershed Council and on the Community and Planning Services Committee.
The report by District staff also indicates that the District pays lower-tier municipalities up to $2,442 “to support District Councillor attendance at conferences and, $5,000 “to a District Councillor who participates in a designated association as a board member, such as the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and Ontario Good Roads Association, where the purpose of that participation is to advocate for the interests of the District of Muskoka at large. These costs are reported by the lower-tier municipalities for the applicable Members of Council. The cost submitted for Councillor conference attendance relating to 2025 is $11,833 compared to $9,187 in 2024.”
Below are the scheduled increases for this term of council approved by resolution during the last term of council on March 21, 2022.
You can find the staff report HERE (PDF).
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