Minto to consider increase in council pay next year

By Denny Scott

MINTO – Town council here will consider an updated remuneration bylaw that would see an increase to the deputy mayor’s compensation.

In an April 21 report, treasurer Gordon Duff and clerk Annilene McRobb told council the increase is intended to reflect the increased responsibilities of the role.

Duff explained the town is reviewing remuneration at a good time thanks to other municipalities pursuing similar comparisons.

“We did look at municipalities of comparable size,” he said. “A lot of people did the same thing.”

By taking advantage of those surveys, staff was able to compare 50 different municipalities across Ontario with populations ranging from 10,000 to 25,000.

“By and large, Minto is close to the average,” Duff said. “We were prepared to consider larger changes, but when we looked, it’s more just a bit of tinkering we need to do.”

Staff told council the biggest change is increasing the difference between the pay for deputy mayor and councillors to recognize the increased responsibilities of the former. 

Other changes include reducing maximum healthcare spending from $2,000 to $1,000 which follows changes for all municipal employees.

If approved, the proposal will increase the mayor’s remuneration from $35,258 to $36,000 next year. Remuneration for deputy mayor would increase from $23,199 to $26,000 while councillor remuneration will increase from $22,051 to $23,000.

These amounts would continue to be adjusted by the same cost of living adjustments provided to staff.

While council members voiced no issues with the changes, deputy mayor Jean Anderson said nothing was done to address an ongoing issue she has with council’s remuneration: inconsistency.

She said council members were either not claiming or incorrectly claiming expenses such as per diem payments.

“We’re still not clear on who puts in for what, because the amounts we put in are varying,” she said, explaining some council members are claiming for expenses limited to conferences while not attending conferences, while others who attend conferences are not claiming what they are entitled to or claiming it under different headings.

“Whether we need more explanation, or we need to be more open about how we put in for things, it seems to be an ongoing thing,” said Anderson.

Mayor Dave Turton noted every new council goes through training, and this could be handled through that. Both new and returning council members could be “brought up to snuff” for the next session of council, he said.

Anderson asked if staff could correct the issue before remuneration reports are released so council knows if they are claiming the correct funds from the correct streams.

“[It] all comes out in the wash, but it’s very confusing to me and, if it’s confusing to me, I’m sure it’s confusing to the public and we know how these things get,” she said.

Staff said they could investigate that. Council then directed staff to bring the remuneration bylaw back to council’s next meeting on May 5.