Chatham-Kent municipal council recently voted a raise for the position of mayor to more than $93,000 a year, but councillor compensation will stay the same.
The Citizen Review Committee on Council Compensation was tasked by council to review the honorarium received by mayor and council “to ensure competitiveness with comparable municipalities was maintained.”
The recommendation to council was from Dec. 1, 2018 to Nov. 30, 2022 the amount for mayor be increased from the current $83,088 to $103,000 annually, the mayor be enrolled in the Ontario Municipal Employee Retirement System (OMERS), and be eligible for an end of service “transition honorarium at the rate of $10,000 for one term served and $20,000 for two or more terms served” if not re-elected.
It was also recommended councilors’ honorarium be upped to $31,000, an increase from the 2004 levels when a raise was last approved. The amounts, according to the review report represent the median amounts when compared to municipalities of a similar size and demographic.
The initial recommendation was rejected by council members and Coun. Derek Robertson made a motion to reduce the mayor’s compensation to $93,605. Robertson said he felt the work done by the committee to make the honorarium competitive should be given consideration.
Council approved Robertson’s motion, to start in 2018, plus enrolment in OMERS, the end of service honorarium, and also that attendance by council members at meetings be tracked and reported by the clerk on the municipality’s website.
A motion by Coun. Carmen McGregor to increase councilors’ compensation to a median amount of $28,937 was defeated.
The review committee will be asked to look at council compensation again near the end of the next four-year term.
