Friday, December 01, 2017

Council to debate pay raise

by Wayne Moore -CASTANET Dec 1, 2017 / 5:48 am
Mayor and council in Lake Country have not received a significant pay increase since 2002. Yearly increases have been tied to the Consumer Price Index, but that could change in 2019. Council will debate a new pay structure that, if approved, would provide the mayor with a 23.7 per cent increase and councillors a 17.3 per cent pay hike. The raises would take the mayor's remuneration from $38,265 to $47,325 and councillors pay from $16,143 to $18,930 a year. Those would not take affect until the new council is sworn in following next fall's municipal elections.The pay structure was determined by a four-member committee comprised of three community members and a staff liaison. The new rates would peg the mayor's salary at the 60th percentile of mayors in comparable B.C. municipalities, while councillors would earn 40 per cent of the mayor's salary.Council approved the establishment of the community committee in 2015. The committee began its work earlier this year.

Typically, one-third of councillors remuneration is tax-free, so expenses incurred during daily duties were not deductible. The federal government eliminated that provision earlier this year, however, officials with the municipality says this latest pay increase is not tied to that announcement.
Staffer Tanis Stoltz says instead, mayor and council will be provided with T2200 forms, which will enable them to deduct regular expenses on a yearly basis.
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Also see https://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/raises-proposed-for-lake-country-mayor-and-council/

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