What kind of pay increase will members of New Westminster city council get in 2019? That remains to be seen.
New Westminster city council has approved a staff recommendation to hire an external consultant to conduct a comprehensive review of council remuneration in comparison with peer municipalities to determine the appropriate remuneration for 2019, and to update the council remuneration policy. While the city normally reviews council pay every four years using a “multiple linear regression analysis” and applying a wage increase based on the Consumer Price Index, staff recommended the city hire a consultant to review council remuneration because of changes made to the Income Tax Act.
A staff report stated the federal government amended the Income Tax Act in 2017 to eliminate the current one-third tax-free municipal officer’s allowance starting on Jan. 1, 2019.
“In order to address this issue and to assess if there are other considerations, staff recommends that the city retain an external consultant to conduct an independent and comprehensive review of council remuneration in comparison with peer municipalities to determine the appropriate remuneration for 2018 and to update the current policy,” said the report. “The updated policy is expected to be available in April 2019.”
According to the city’s 2018 statement of financial information, Mayor Jonathan Cote received $108,592 in total remuneration in 2017, while New West councillors each received around $46,000.
