Members of Summerland’s municipal council will receive a pay increase in the new year.
At the Nov. 26 council meeting, council approved higher remuneration for the mayor and the six councillors.
In 2017, the previous council directed staff to form a council remuneration committee to review compensation. The report was brought forward in August.
The new bylaw calls for the mayor to receive $36,000 a year beginning Jan. 1, while councillors will receive 45 per cent of the mayor’s pay, or 16,200 a year.
Under the existing remuneration bylaw, the mayor receives $26,000 a year while councillors receive $11,500 a year.
These rates have been in effect since Jan. 1, 2009.
The higher fees are close to the average remuneration packages paid by 21 B.C. municipalities. Each of these communities had significantly higher compensation than the amounts paid in Summerland.
However, there was some variation among the communities studied. For example, the mayor of Powell River will receive $48,500 in 2019, while councillors there will receive $19,400. On the lower end of the pay scale, the mayor of Oliver receives $27,349 while councillors receive $14,586.
The increase will add $27,815 to the municipality’s costs of coverage for its elected officials in 2019.
In addition to the remuneration packages, council also passed a motion to increase the travel allowance and per diem compensation rates for council members.
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