Revelstoke city council will once again wade into the issue of pay raises for mayor and council.
During the budget process in late 2019 and early 2020, council proposed large pay increases for themselves, including a jump from $15,500 to $25,000 for councillors, and a $45,000 pay raise for the mayor, bringing his salary to $75,000.
The proposal, which wound its way through budget committee meetings for months with little attention, ended with the surprise resignation of Coun. Steven Cross, who opposed the pay raises. In his resignation, Cross cited a lack of understanding of ethical behaviour on the part of the mayor and council.
The resignation drew provincial media attention to Revelstoke and intense local interest. It was a major crisis for council, which soon after abandoned plans for a pay raise. For more on the episode, see our report and video here:
Council pay raises back on the agenda
The mayor and councillors discussed plans for raising mayor and council pay at two recent committee meetings, but the discussion has not yet come to a regular council meeting.
At the Sept. 16 meeting, the mayor and council gave staff the OK to proceed with plans for pay raises for the mayor and council. At the meeting, councillors expressed opinions about how the pay raise question should be approached.
Coun. Nicole Cherlet said there should be discussion about tax impact of the raises. “Part of the concern in the previous instances was the increase in taxation,” Cherlet said. “What options do we have to make it less of an impact on taxation so it’s not sudden?”
Cherlet said she felt better compensation and improved benefits would help council, “to have diverse representation, to make it more enticing,” Cherlet said. “It makes it a sustainable job for different sections of our society to be able to join.”
Coun. Tim Palmer said he felt the raise should benefit the next council: “This should be for the next council, not for this council,” Palmer said. He supported forming a committee to look into the raise issue. He also supported adding maternity leave. “I think that that should be added in there. I am astounded that it is even a question in our society today,” Palmer said.
After some council discussion about the pay raise being for the benefit of a future council, Palmer did point out the limitations of that argument, noting that current councillors who opted to run for re-election are nevertheless discussing a self-pay raise. “There is a good possibility that some of us will [seek re-election],” he said.
Watch: View the council discussion of council pay raises at the Sept. 16 Committee of the Whole meeting:
The video is cued to start of the pay raise discussion.
So far, the process remains in verbal discussion only, with no reports or presentations generated yet.
At the Sept. 16 meeting, councillors also provided direction that the pay raise process should be completed prior to the next election, which is scheduled for Oct. 15, 2022.
There was a brief update at council’s Oct. 14 committee of the whole meeting, where finance director, Tania McCabe, provided a brief verbal report on progress. McCabe said she’d started work on the pay raise issue and will be setting up a committee to look into it.
Analysis: A sensitive topic
The topic of politicians awarding themselves raises strikes a chord with the public, in Revelstoke or anywhere else.
The council pay raise issue was problematic enough that the Union of British Columbia Municipalities created a Council & Board Remuneration Guide in September of 2019. The 42-page handbook coaches municipalities on how to approach the issue of council pay raises. Although it was available at the time, for whatever reasons, the freshly printed guide did not factor into council pay raise discussions in late 2019 and early 2020.
Instead, some councillors pushed the pay raises during verbal budget committee discussions with little accompanying paperwork. The issue was a source of controversy amongst councillors at several meetings and eventually erupted with a councillor resignation. Altogether, it was not handled well by council, and also not managed well by senior staff.
The handbook explores the pay raise issue, recommending several approaches. It notes councils should be compensated adequately and that compensation and benefits has an impact on who chooses to stand for election, and it can impact diversity on council.
It also notes that compensation should be mindful of the economic conditions in the community.
The handbook weighs the pros and cons of various approaches to the issue and recommends best practices. These include things like appointing an independent task force, reviewing remuneration each term, setting policy for future reviews, and basing remuneration on the amount paid to elected officials in similar local government jurisdictions. The report also recommends several other best practices.
It also warns against doing the review in the year before the general election, which is now one-year away.
Generally, the issue of compensation and benefits does have some impact on how diverse and representative a council is. For example, a child-care provision could convince more parents with young children to seek office. It can be a worthwhile discussion to have.
However, if improved representative diversity is the goal, compensation and benefits is one of several things that can be addressed to create a working environment that attracts diverse, top-shelf candidates.
The topic of politician pay is loaded garners more public interest and opinion than other municipal topics, even ones that deserve more public attention. In their discussion on Sept. 16, councillors acknowledged the controversy created during their last pay raise attempt and expressed awareness of the controversial nature of the topic.
It’s not clear when a report with options on how to proceed will come forward in a report, but it seems likely it will be in the coming weeks.
What did you think of this story?
Your feedback after we publish a story helps ensure we're always improving our reporting to better serve you
