New Westminster city council has approved a pay increase – but it may not put much more money in their pockets.
A consultant recommended city council increase its pay to offset changes to federal taxation changes, with the mayor’s annual salary increasing to $130,000 (from $106,034) and councillors’ remuneration rising to $50,000 (from $43,180) to ensure their pay is comparable to similar municipalities and reflects the impact of recent tax changes.
“Last year, when I looked at the salaries, it actually showed that our salaries were pretty much in line with comparable municipalities. I think the reason the increases are being suggested is a lot of the communities have been making adjustments given to the tax changes that occurred this year,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “Although these do represent increases in mayor and council salaries, I think the net salary is actually pretty much the same as last year given these changes. I think our process has just essentially caught up and reflected that and reflected that most other communities have made that adjustment. I think it’s a fair process.”
The city hired Sainas Consult Inc. to review council remuneration in response to the federal government’s decision to eliminate the one-third tax-free municipal officer’s allowance in 2019 and make all of their remuneration fully taxable. In addition to reviewing council remuneration to consider whether it should be adjusted to ensure their net pay remained the same as before the tax changes, the review was also intended to ensure the remuneration is appropriate compared to other municipalities with similar populations and expenditures.
On Monday, council approved staff recommendations to: approve the recommended adjustments for its remuneration retroactively to Jan. 1, 2019; approve continuance of the city’s current practice of providing annual Consumer Price Index adjustments to council remuneration in the years between reviews; and approve a city review of the remuneration every four years in the months before an election, with the next review to be done in 2026.
As part of the review, New Westminster mayor and councillor remuneration was compared to Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Port Coquitlam, Delta, West Vancouver, Langley Township, the District of North Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver. The consultant found that New Westminster mayor and councillors’ remuneration “was very close to the middle of the market” in 2018 but noted that six of the eight comparison municipalities had increased the gross compensation for their councils in order to maintain the same level of net pay given the taxation changes and the other two were intending to do the same.
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr said the remuneration review process in New Westminster is transparent and is done by a third party with no vested interest in the decision. He supports adjustments to remuneration, saying it’s “not fair” to force somebody to take a pay cut of about $7,000 a year because of changes to the federal tax act.
“These rates would ensure that the mayor and councillors continue to be paid in line with the median of the comparison municipalities,” said a staff report. “It is also recommended that the city should continue its current practice of providing annual adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index for the region in the years between reviews.”
Council recently received the 2018 statement of financial information, which includes a report listing the pay of council members, including past councillors and two newcomers elected in the fall. Mayor Jonathan Cote had remuneration of $109,649, followed by Coun. Jaimie McEvoy ($47,434); councillors Patrick Johnstone, Chuck Puchmayr and Mary Trentadue (all at $46,434), former councillors Lorrie Williams ($39,545) and Bill Harper ($38,545), and new councillors Chinu Das and Nadine Nakagawa ($6,852 each).
The statement of financial information also listed council members’ expenses for 2018, with local politicos reporting varying levels of expenses for attending conferences, training, community events and city-sponsored events. Retired councillors claimed the most in expenses, with Williams at $14,235 and Harper at $10,447, followed by: Puchmayr – $8,979; McEvoy – $7,674; Johnstone – $5,719; Cote – $1,959; Trentadue – $721; Nakagawa – $644; and Das – $198.
