View Royal council will consider increasing their salaries this evening.
As per the town’s policy, at the end of the term, an independent contractor was hired to complete a market survey and make a recommendation on remuneration before a new council is elected, said Mayor David Screech.
Council will receive those recommendations today.
“We do need to make it possible for people to consider running for council,” Screech said. “I don’t think it should be like a paid job by any means, but I do think we have to be careful not to make it only accessible to those who are already earning a very good living and can give up the time.”
Based on median pay for the region’s councils reported by Jo MacDonald Consulting Services, staff recommended remuneration for the View Royal mayor to be established at the 75th percentile — a 32.6 per cent increase and $10,996 per year bump to a $44,687 per annum salary.
It’s recommended that council pay come in at half the pay of the mayor, or $22,343.50 per annum. That’s an increase of $6,190.50 or 38.3 per cent.
An alternative staff recommendation is a $39,021 per annum for the mayor and $19,051 for councillors plus an adjustment based on the change in Victoria’s consumer price index.
Whatever council decides on won’t be effective until Jan. 1, following the Oct. 15 election. The public was not part of the survey, but Screech notes that constituents can voice their feedback at today’s meeting.
Stan Bartlett, vice-president of the Grumpy Taxpayers, said View Royal council’s timing is “shameful and shameless.”
“My primary concern is the process,” he said. “They went to a private consultant to do a report, there was a lack of resident input.
“Bottom line is, there has to be ample time for the public to learn about this and weigh in, and for the media to hear about it and convey that message to the public,” Bartlett said. “And we’re not convinced that happened. They could have easily done this in June [or] July. We’re left with the sense they’re trying to sneak this under the carpet.”
The remuneration report will be considered by View Royal council roughly a week after Colwood approved a remuneration increase that doubled the salaries of mayor and councillors to $61,000 a year for the mayor and $30,000 for councillors post-election.
Bartlett emphasized that if median salaries are used to determine rates for other municipalities, then every increase has a ripple effect.
“It causes reverberations through the region and elsewhere. So it never stops,” he said. “These recent [increases] are very substantial and I think they certainly have to be justified.”
Colwood’s numbers were based on findings from an independent committee, which met five times between February and June with opportunity for public participation.
But the public never participated, said Mayor Rob Martin, who said he supports the increase as a way to make public service more accessible to people from different backgrounds and income levels.
“I don’t think [remuneration] is the reason people choose to run but it helps them make the decision and determine if they can make it work,” he said. “It was really important to me that this council made the decision for the next council.”
