Council reviewed their remuneration at their regular meeting Tuesday night.
It’s Council’s responsibility to awkwardly choose their own salary, so they appointed a third-party committee to figure out appropriate wages.
Starting January 1st, 2016, the following role’s remuneration will be as follows, as recommended by the Council Remuneration Review Committee:
– Mayor’s stipend to be increased to $27,000 (currently $20,068)
– Deputy Mayor’s stipend to be increased to $15,000 (currently $10,033)
– Councilor stipend to be increased to $13,500 (currently $9,407)
– Per diem rate of $125 per day to remain the same
– Mileage rate for use of own vehicle to be increased to the Canada Revenue Agency
(CRA) recommendation (currently $0.55 per kilometer; Smithers allowance is $0.52
per kilometer)
– Total annual expense allowance of $15,000 per annum for the Mayor and $5,500 per
councilor to increase in line with the consumer Price Index
There is no BC standard for Council’s salaries, so the Committee used comparative data from similarly-populated BC towns to make the new remuneration. The numbers look like a very large increase, but Member Chris Kibble says in the grand scheme of things, they aren’t.
“When you look at the actual percentage of the Council budget for 2015, which is 10.5 million, the actual amount we’re talking about slightly over 1% with the increase for the stipends,” he says, “so in relation to the actual budget, it’s very small.”
Mayor Taylor Bachrach knows approving your own salary is an odd process and recommends concerned residents read the committee’s report.
“Smithers has fallen quite far behind other small communities, 18th out of 20 when it comes to Mayor’s remuneration if I remember correctly. An important part of what we do is set compensation so I think it’s a fair outcome and I think it’s defensible.”