300% pay raise on horizon

By Scott Neufeld The Vernon Daily Courier http://www.dailycourier.ca/

North Okanagan Regional District directors could be receiving a 300 per cent pay increase if the board follows through on a recommendation from its finance committee. At a Tuesday night meeting the finance committee voted to recommend a base pay increase for the board’s nine municipal directors from roughly $1,500 per year to $6,000 per year. The board’s five electoral area directors would see their remuneration rise to $14,800 per year from $7,600. NORD’s chair was excluded from the proposed raise.

“I’m very surprised,” said new regional board member Juliette Cunningham. “I didn’t know that an increase was anywhere on the radar screen.” Vernon’s two members on the NORD finance committee, Mayor Wayne Lippert and Coun. Patrick Nicol were not available for comment on Wednesday. NORD chair Jerry Oglow was also unavailable. Cunningham said that new board members were never notified that an increase was being discussed. “I haven’t heard any kind of word on any of it,” she said. “If there was a discussion, the rest of council didn’t hear about it.”

Chief financial officer Alan Harris said he has not yet calculated how the proposed changes would affect the budget. However, a Vernon Daily Courier estimate pegs the total budget increase at roughly $76,500, bringing the entire cost of paying NORD directors to more than $320,000 per year including a $103 stipend per meeting they attend. “Basically what the increase has done is brought (directors) in line compared with other regional districts,” Harris said. “Especially on the municipal side, electoral directors were below average but municipal directors were a lot lower.”

A staff report presented to the finance committee showed that North Okanagan directors are paid far less than their colleagues in other Interior regional districts. According to the report, the average municipal director in the Interior is paid $6,383 per year – four times more than what directors are paid in the North Okanagan. Harris said the raise will be discussed at the board’s first meeting in March. Car allowances were also discussed and it was decided only the board chair would receive a car allowance and not vice-chair Lippert. Electoral area directors have already voted themselves a $400 per month car allowance for each of the five members. Some rural directors had also asked that they be paid for each committee meeting they attend whether they are members or not, however, Harris said that idea was rejected.