CBS councillors to get first raise in over a decade
By Craig Westcott
Councillors in CBS will get a raise next year – their first in 12 years by the time it takes effect – and have adopted a policy to set how they will get further increases in future years that will be tied to changes in the cost of living.
The new policy will take effect in 2028 and so won’t directly affect the raise council gives itself next year, which will be determined this fall as it deliberates over next year’s municipal budget. But once the policy takes effect, annual increases will be capped at a maximum of 3 per cent, no matter how much the cost of living increases, and floored at zero per cent, meaning that if the cost of living goes down – a rare but still not unheard-of occurrence – their salaries will not go down.
Council approved the policy at last week’s public meeting.
“This is a new policy as there has never been a policy to govern council remuneration,” said Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse, who chairs council’s finance discussions. “The purpose of this policy is to establish a fair, transparent and predictable approach to council remuneration… This policy links any remuneration adjustments to the cost-of-living increases while placing reasonable bounds on annual increases to maintain fiscal responsibility.”
Mayor Darrin Bent allowed that discussing increased pay for councillors can be difficult, but pointed out there hasn’t been a raise for CBS members since 2015.
“In this budget cycle, we are looking at adjusting the base pay for all of council – mayor, deputy mayor and all councillors – with a mind to bringing it more in step with our two closest neighbouring communities, not including St. John’s which has a full-time mayor and a different process altogether – but with our neighbours Mount Pearl and Paradise,” Bent said. We want to be in line with them, but we want to make sure we keep step.”
The mayor noted one of those municipalities ties council raises to however much its unionized workforce gets. In an interview after the council meeting, Bent said he didn’t think that would be appropriate in CBS’s case.
“So, we are looking at the numbers of our neighbours directly next to us, keeping in mind that we are the second largest population in the province, keeping in mind that we have the second largest amount of infrastructure in the province, and there are the duties that fall in line with that. However, I don’t expect us to be the second highest paid council in the province.”
Bent said council members do not receive any medical coverage, pension benefits, or mileage reimbursements from the Town. “What you get (as pay) is what you get to cover all of your expenses.”
Bent also pointed out that because of increased Canada Pension Plan deductions by the federal government, CBS council members today take home less money in the role than those who served in 2016, even though the pay rate is the same.
“The difference is actually that a councillor today is netting $900 less than they did 10 years ago,” Bent said. “The deputy mayor is down about $2,600, and … the mayor’s job pays a thousand dollars less, take home today, than it did 10 years ago. It’s the first job I’ve ever had that you got paid less the longer you stayed at it… I do think it’s prudent that we take time this year to review these numbers, come up with appropriate numbers and put them forward at our budget process this fall and see where it takes us. But certainly we want stay in step with our neighbours, and we don’t want to go out of step with them either, so it’s important that we give it a good look.”
Councillor-at-large Joshua Barrett said the issue of council pay makes for an awkward discussion every fall when the Town works on its coming budget.
“None of us are in it for the money,” he said. “At least now there is a policy in place that can help govern and legislate what we want to do.”
Barrett also questioned whether the reason the town saw half as many candidates run for council last year as compared to 2021 had anything to do with the pay, which is the lowest in the region among the larger municipalities, though he didn’t point that part out.
“I think for democracy, for governance, and some of these considerations, there are things we can do as a council, as a Town, to help encourage candidates to come forward and help run this beautiful community we call home,” Barrett said. “So, I think this is another mechanism we can use and employ to do those things. It’s a bit of an ugly topic, I know, but it’s something that we needed to explore, for sure.”
The mayor is currently paid $46,079 a year, the deputy mayor $32,085 and councillors $30,142 each for a total annual budget of $289,158.