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Township to debate pay raise

Spallumcheen will compare council remuneration with other communities

Spallumcheen council will discuss the possibility of giving itself a raise in 2016.

Staff was given direction at a committee of the whole meeting in December to prepare a report comparing township council remuneration with that of other like-sized communities in the province.

Chief financial officer Amy Vienneau gave council two reports showing the remuneration summaries of 10 similar-sized communities by population.

“The first report includes calculations of the average, mean (middle number), lowest and highest using all 10 communities,” said Vienneau.

“The second report shows comparable calculations, however the two communities with the highest and lowest values have been removed so the calculations are based on the remaining eight communities.”

Spallumcheen’s population is listed at 5,185. Mayor Janice Brown earns $19,369 while the six councillors earn $9,685.

Remuneration-wise, Spallumcheen would be 11th compared to the other communities, but would be the third-largest in terms of population.

The 10 communities compared in Vienneau’s report are Creston, Duncan, Fernie, Gibsons, Grand Forks, Hope, Kent, Oliver, Osoyoos and Peachland.

The District of Kent (Agassiz), in the Fraser Valley, is the largest, population-wise, with 5,890 people. The smallest of the 10 is Grand Forks (4,048).

The mayor of Kent earns $33,239 while councillors are paid $15,736 annually. Grand Forks’ mayor pockets $22,290 per year, while council members draw $16,718.

The average of the 10 communities, population-wise, is 4,911. The average mayor’s salary is $24,811 and the average council remuneration is $13,506.

Spallumcheen council voted unanimously to defer the report to a committee of the whole financial planning meeting, and include the average figures for budget discussions.

Councillors Todd York and Ed Hanoski were absent from the regular council meeting.

In the neighbouring City of Armstrong, where the population is listed at 4,878, the mayor receives $22,302 per year, and council members earn $12,820.

 



Roger Knox

About the Author: Roger Knox

I am a journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. I started my career in radio and have spent the last 21 years working with Black Press Media.
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