Jason Luciw - Kelowna Capital News Published: January 29, 2010 3:00 PM
Economic times may still be a bit tough, but District of West Kelowna staff is still proposing that Mayor Doug Findlater be given a 4.5 per cent raise this year. During a second round of budget deliberations Monday morning, council will be asked to weigh in on a staff recommendation that proposes Findlater’s annual salary increase from $58,091 in 2009 to $60,853 this year, an increase of $2,762. The raise would put Findlater, the mayor of a municipality of 28,000 people with an estimated 2010 budget of $47.8 million, ahead of Penticton Mayor Dan Ashton, who has 33,000 constituents and will answer for an estimated budget of $140 million this year. However, if council approves the raise, Findlater would make less than Vernon Mayor Wayne Lippert who currently makes $63,466. Vernon has a population of 38,000 and an estimated 2010 budget of $53 million.
West Kelowna staff came up with the mayor’s recommended remuneration using comparisons to six other B.C. municipalities of similar size and then taking the median salary. Council asked staff to conduct the remuneration review each January using the formula. “Council is not required to vote on this change. However, council may, by resolution, waive its policy and determine a different remuneration level,” stated a report from West Kelowna’s finance department. In addition to using Vernon and Penticton, the analysis compared salaries from mayors in North Cowichan and Campbell River on Vancouver Island and Port Moody and the City of Langley in the Lower Mainland. The same process was used to determine councillors’ annual remuneration. The staff report going to council on Monday morning, recommends that West Kelowna councillors get a $152 increase this year, with their remuneration going from $20,502 to $20,654. One third of the mayoral and councillors’ salaries are considered a tax-free allowance.
No comments:
Post a Comment