City council in Merritt could be getting a raise, bringing their salaries more in line with the average for similar sized communities.
CAO Scott Hildebrand says the plan is to raise the mayor’s salary to $36,582 and for each councillor to $17,394.
“The mayor’s salary was about 40 per cent below average and council was approximately 12 per cent below average, he said. “You know, we need to be prudent, we need to be proactive in making sure that these things are managed, and I know it is a sensitive and difficult topic but at the end of the day, it is things that council need to be aware of and making sure that we are staying on top of it.”
Currently Mayor Linda Brown is making $25,984 and each councillor takes home $15,590.
Hildebrand says a proposed amendment to increase the pay over three years was defeated by council this week.
“My perspective is that it defeats the purpose because right now the current bylaw is back from 2016 and the whole point of it is to try and keep it as current as possible so we’re not viewing this five years at a time and then having to potentially make an adjustment that’s comparable to other similar sized cities,” he added.
“So we wanted to find a process that made sense.”
City staff will now be bringing forward a bylaw at a future meeting for council to consider. It will need to get three readings at two separate meetings before it comes into effect.
“The current bylaw that we’ve asked to amend, does have a consumer price index in there that gets looked at on an annual basis and we have actually thrown that in the recommendation as well for council to consider when it comes back to the table. It needs to be a fair and reasonable salary that allows them to contribute to the success of their community.”
A second amendment to delay the pay increase until after the next election was also defeated at the council table.
Hildebrand told NL that the impact this year will be about $3,500 more towards the mayor’s salary, and about $600 for each councillor. City staff will adjust the budget for reflect the increase for next, if the increase is approved.
