Bepple wants councillor pay review

By Andrea Klassen - Kamloops This Week Published: May 01, 2013 3:00 PM 
After a decade of cost-of-living increases, a Kamloops city councillor thinks it might be time for city leaders to look at giving themselves a more substantial raise.  Coun. Nancy Bepple put forward a notice of motion this week, asking for a report on the paycheques of mayors and councils in comparable communities in B.C. Bepple believes the job of being a councillor has expanded since council last looked at its pay rate in 2001. “We’re doing more in terms of community consultation, we’re more involved with external committees as well and there’s also city committees,” she said, pointing to the city’s budget process, which now takes 16 hours instead of two hours because of expanded community meetings. “The role of the councillors, the work has increased over the last number of years,” Bepple said. In 2011, a committee recommended salaries for elected officials should rise by 30 per cent, which would have put the mayor’s salary at $75,000, up from $57,432. Councillors, then earning $16,779, would have made $22,500. Feeling that was too much of a jump, council instead opted to hitch its pay rate to the Vancouver Consumer Price Index.  The Vancouver Consumer Price Index tracks the cost of living based on prices of commonly purchased goods and services. In 2013, councillors make $24,811, while Mayor Peter Milobar takes home $74,434 — one-third of which is tax-free. “I think even if we get and increase every year, a small increase, we should be reviewing the overall compensation and how it compares to what the current job is,” Bepple said. She said councillors need to be able to make enough money to put in the hours the job requires. Bepple pegs her councillor work at 20 to 30 hours per week. “If you’re a councillor, it’s difficult or impossible to have another full-time job,” she said. “You need to be able to balance out some other part-time work, perhaps, or maybe not any other work.” To sit on council, Bepple takes a partial leave of absence from her position at Thompson Rivers University, which she said costs her some of her benefits and pension. Bepple said sitting on council costs her between $20,000 and $30,000 per year. Councillors will vote on Tuesday, May 7 whether to ask staff for a report and get the pay rate conversation started.