by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — Remuneration for the Township of Whitewater Region could change in time for the new year.
Earlier this month, the corporate services committee reviewed council remuneration following a report from County of Renfrew human resources manager Bruce Beakley, which had been requested, and paid for, by the township.
There are 11 sections in the current remuneration bylaw. Each of them were reviewed and where necessary, changes were discussed and agreed to.
A Notice of Motion regarding the update will be discussed at the Oct. 5 corporate services committee meeting.
Tax Free Allowance – no change.
Annual Wage Adjustment: Currently, the increase is based on the CPI (Consumer Price Index), noted treasurer Marsha Hawthorne.
However, Mr. Beakley suggested it be based on what the union agreement is, she said.
“See what we’ve offered the union that year and put it across the board,” she said. “It could be higher than the CPI for that year.”
Councillor Daryl McLaughlin noted this is only the second year the CPI was used for non-union staff. Previously, whatever the union received, the non-union staff received as well.
“We, as a council, were always on the CPI,” he said. “This is where the slight has happened, it was always on the CPI. I agree with what Bruce’s thoughts are, at certain times, it should be used so that you stay abreast or equal to the other employees.”
It was agreed that non-union staff and council receive the same yearly increase as the union employees.
Mayor’s Remuneration: The current mayor’s remuneration is “far below” that of other politicians in a similar-sized municipality, Mr. Beakley noted.
Mayor Hal Johnson currently receives $17,429. As a member of the ORPC board (Ontario River Power Corporation), he also receives a $4,279 honourarium. This brings his total to $21,708.
Those two amounts together bring his salary up to comparison to other politicians, Ms. Hawthorne said.
Councillor Chris Olmstead had suggested at an earlier meeting that a bylaw be passed appointing the mayor automatically be on the board, which would mean his salary would remain comparable. The second board, which is the ORES (Ottawa River Energy Solutions), could be an appointment by the mayor.
Councillor Cathy Regier noted previous to this council, the same council member who sat on ORPC sat on ORES, which also pays an honourarium.
Coun. McLaughlin noted this is the first council to split the two boards in about 13 years. It’s also the first council to have someone who is not an elected official sit on the ORES board.
“An honourarium is paid,” he said. “I feel it should be the mayor or he can appoint a council member.”
Coun. Jackson said if the mayor were to sit on one board, his salary would be comparable to other mayors; his salary may be high in comparison to other mayors if he sits on both boards. However, if the mayor did not sit on either board, his salary would be much less in comparison to other mayors.
However, Coun. McLaughlin felt the mayor would receive too much money compared to what other council members are paid.
“We go to a lot of things too and don’t get paid,” he said, noting he sits on a board that meets six times a year and receives no extra honourarium.
However, Reeve Terry Millar pointed out the mayor has to attend various functions while for the other council members it’s an option whether they go or not.
Mayor Johnson pointed out he is the first council member who has sat on one of these boards to report the honourarium he receives.
“I’m not in favour of being chastised for doing this,” he said. “Because I did it, it’s creating problems and hard feelings.
“I take a lot of time off work to attend functions and meetings. It costs me a fortune.”
He added, “(Being mayor) is the most expensive job I have ever had in my entire life. It comes out of my personal salary. It no where covers the costs.”
Reeve Millar said the municipality “is getting a heck of a good deal” with Mayor Johnson and “He should get more remuneration to be fair.”
He suggested the board’s remuneration be left out of the equation and suggested the mayor receive $20,000 as a base salary. The board remuneration is for the board work he does, Reeve Millar said.
It was agreed the mayor’s salary would be increased to $20,000 plus he appoints an elected official to sit on the ORPC and the ORES.
Reeve and Councillor Remuneration: Mr. Beakley is recommending a $2,515 increase to councillor/reeve remuneration, going to $13,000 from the current $10,485.
It was also agreed to get rid of the chair per diem and include it in the base salary.
Therefore, it was agreed that each council member would receive $14,800 and Coun. Olmstead said the bylaw should read that each member of council shall chair at least one committee.
There are eight committees that would be included in this per diem: corporate services; public works, property and protection; environmental; protective services; economic development; recreation and culture; planning; and committee of adjustment.
Outside Boards and Committee: Remains the same, the mayor appoints a council member to the board / committee and council approves.
Meeting per diem: Currently, council members do not get paid for each meeting they attend.
However, it’s being recommended they receive a per diem for each council/committee meeting that is not regularly scheduled.
Explaining, Coun. Jackson said council members would not be paid for the first and third Wednesday of each month’s council/committee meetings; however, if special meetings were called, a per diem would then be paid. It would be $50 for four hours and less and if it’s more than four hours, the fee would be $100 – but only upon approval of the mayor and CAO.
There was some discussion if there would be payment made for outside boards and committees, but that was turned down.
“It’s just part of our salary,” Coun. McLaughlin said. “It’s up to you if you want to go or not. It benefits you if you do go.”
He noted when he was first elected to council, council members did receive per diem for outside meetings and board meetings. However, there were some council members making almost double of other council members, because they sat on more committees or their were more committee meetings, he explained.
It was determined that was not fair, he said.
Coun. Regier agreed, noting for example, she attends the library board meetings most month’s, and they are over within an hour. She would not feel comfortable accepting the $50 for less than one hour’s work, and she pointed out, other committee members would not be getting paid anything.
Reeve Millar agreed, noting some council members may go to meetings just to get the extra money.
“We’ve given council a significant raise tonight, we’ve given the mayor a $7,000 increase, that covers a lot of meetings,” he said. “Over time, it could be misinterpreted, abused, with different councils. That’s not the reason we should be going to these meetings, to get an extra 50 bucks. We’re well paid now within our salary to do this and we do charge mileage for all this too. I don’t, but you might.”
However, Coun. Olmstead said he would agree to the increase in salary, but not getting paid for extra meetings. As an example, he and Coun. Regier spent two-and-a-half days interviewing people for the recent assistant/planning person who was hired.
“We signed on for this job, we’re not coming for the money,” he said. “We all came for public service. It works out to about a buck an hour anyways.
“We knew what we were getting into,” Coun. Olmstead said. “I’m not in favour of paying myself $100 a day to come to an ad hoc committee, or sit on the hiring committee. I can tell the mayor I can’t sit on that board.”
It was agreed there would be no per diems paid for council / committee meetings or outside board / committee meetings by this township.
Mileage: Council and staff currently get paid 50 cents per kilometre (using their own vehicles). It was agreed to increase the rate to 54 cents up to 5,000 kilometres and 48 cents for each kilometre above 5,000.
Training and Conferences: It was agreed each council member receive $100 a day to attend conferences, but can receive no more than $400 in one year. However, this money would come out of the annual stipend allowed for conferences.
Coun. Olmstead pointed out council members do not have to attend the conferences, it’s their choice to go.
It was agreed to increase the annual conference allowance to $4,000 from $3,000, since the lesser amount may not even cover two conferences.
It was also agreed to pool the conference money, so that if there was money in the conference fund which would allow a council member to attend a third meeting, he or she would bring the request to council and see if there is any money in the pool. If there is no money in the pooled conference funds, then the council member would pay the extra money out of his or her own pocket.
Meal allowance: it was agreed there would be no increase to the amount paid for meals within the county, which is $45 a day between three meals, but increase the meals outside of the county to $75 from $65, divided between three meals. However, if the meals were paid for at the meeting/conference, council members could not claim the amount.
Benefits: This would be for dental and health care. Many municipalities do not offer benefits to council members. It was agreed to discuss this in late 2017 to have it in place prior to people putting their papers in as candidates for the 2018 municipal election.
