A commentary by the vice-chair of Grumpy Taxpayer$ of Greater Victoria, a non-partisan citizens advocacy group for municipal taxpayers.
Victoria council has given itself a 25 per cent raise and city taxpayers can’t help but think it’s an early April Fools’ Day joke.
Let’s get this straight, for the record.
Council has no scheduled meetings for the next three weeks, until April 4.
Council received a cost of living increase at the start of the year.
Councillors Jeremy Caradonna and Matt Dell sponsored the pay hike motion — ruled in order by Mayor Marianne Alto — and it didn’t appear on the agenda until the last minute. The delaying tactic minimized controversy in the short run and caught the public, media and some councillors unaware.
Council voted 5-3 with Couns. Stephen Hammond, Marg Gardiner and Alto opposing, without the experienced Coun. Chris Coleman. Wages are increased from $52,420 to $65,525, or half of the mayor’s salary, and the annual cost of living increases continue.
The Review of Council Remuneration study surveyed 18 Canadian cities and noted Victoria councillors’ 2023 base salary of $51,100 is below the Canadian median of $55,700 and the B.C. median of $55,500. Using this benchmark, the subsequent 25 per cent pay hike is excessively rich.
Councillors’ old base salary was 117 per cent of the base salary of all 18 cities surveyed.
Councillors’ new base salary is by far the highest percentage of the mayor’s base salary for all 11 other comparator communities in B.C.
Councillors’ new base salary is the second highest in the entire province, next to Coquitlam with a population of 140,000 people.
Council made the decision partly on the Elected Officials Remuneration study which did not include additional earnings for city council, and the 17 other municipalities across B.C. and Canada.
Council representatives who are also Capital Regional District directors – the mayor and three councillors – earn an extra $22,251, of which $7,517 is an expense allowance. There may be top-ups for additional roles such as vice-chair or per diems for showing up. None of this — driven by our bizarre governance model — was considered by the authors.
Council also tried to justify the outsized hike by pointing to the MNP Governance Review (2022) that said they worked 25-30 hours weekly and so it was a full-time job, according to the last council.
This study was conducted during the pandemic, a troubling time when there were additional meetings. Council mightily struggled with governance issues and controlling their agenda. Since then the council has moved to substantially streamline their meeting workload.
Council will soon review their benefits package, which will likely require even more tax dollars. Council will now get even more of a pay adjustment, every time the mayor gets a pay increase. Councils across the region, and the 91 other local politicians, will surely look in envy at the new pay scale.
Public officials who set their own pay doesn’t pass the smell test with taxpayers.
Usually pay increases come into effect when a new council takes office and usually allow for public input. Some councillors have chosen to do otherwise and enraged taxpayers, and they are unhappy being the brunt of an early April Fool’s Day joke.
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