The Mayor and Council Remuneration Task Force remuneration report was back on the table at council Monday night.
The report was presented to council by the task force at their previous meeting on Nov. 12. At the last meeting council voted to accept the report as information and directed town administration to bring back a revised policy.
On Monday town administration recommended three options to council: 1.) Council adopt the policy with salary adjustments and per diem payments to come into effect October 19, 2021; 2.) Rescind the current policy; 3.) Amend the current policy and rescind the terms of reference for the task force.
Council voted to remove the task force and make remuneration an issue for administration to handle. The force represents Cochrane residents and was appointed by council after an application process or secret ballot, if required.
After the meeting Coun. Alex Reed said this “awkward” situation of discussing salary that council finds itself in annually will finally be addressed with the motion to remove it from council and make it an administrative issue.
“In the meantime, while it’s convenient and easy enough for this council to say that this large council salary increase is for ‘next council’, we all know that everyone of this council probably has aspirations of being re-elected; so in that sense, it’s truly self-serving,” Reed said.
At the meeting Coun. Morgan Nagel said he felt that the task force was wasting their time on the issue, and he was hesitant in accepting a pay increase because of the province’s current economic climate.
“It would not be right for council to be getting this big pay increase at a time when other people aren’t getting such a pay increase,” Nagel said. He suggested that council adopt the policy, remove the per diems and match their current salary.
Coun. Reed echoed Nagel and said local residents are suffering and because of “crippling debt” the provincial government has taken steps to curb spending.
“All kinds of institutions, organizations, businesses, and other communities all around us are laying off employees. Yet the majority of town council felt it appropriate to give the next council a substantial salary increase,” Reed said.
“I think it is insensitive, self-serving, and shows a complete disregard for the members of our community.”
At the Nov. 12 meeting task force member Ben Clarke reported that Cochrane Mayor Jeff Genung earned a slightly above average salary with most mayors of comparable sized towns. Clarke pointed to Airdrie, Fort Saskatchewan, Okotoks, Leduc and Spruce Grove for comparison. On average, mayors in these towns earn $98,440 annually, while Genung earns $99,600.
Genung is the only full-time member on council. The average council salary is $40,832, being 42.2 per cent of the mayor’s salary. Clarke said the proportion is more varied in Cochrane and councillors in Cochrane are severely “underpaid” at $33,600 annually.
On Nov. 12 the task force recommended that effective upon the swearing in of the new council in October 2021, councillors total base remuneration be increased to $41,832. There was no recommendation for an adjustment to the mayor’s salary.
The task force also recommended that councillors should be rewarded for their extra work or per diem allowance. The current average comparison per diem is $81.20 for 2-4 hours and $162.40 for four plus hours.
At Monday’s meeting Coun. McFadden said she supported the per diem portion that the task force recommended.
“The workload has increased dramatically. The population we’re servicing has increased. The complexity of the issues have increased and the expectations of the public has increased,” she said at the meeting.
“It’s a different type of role that we take on in the public service. I think we need to think beyond today and be strategic not only on how we’re running our organization, but in how we’re trying to draft and draw responsibilities of future councillors.”
On the subject of per diems Coun. Marnie Fedeyko wondered if other volunteers who sit on committees receive such an allowance. She said she’d be more agreeable to receiving a per diem if other members-at-large were also receiving the benefit.
“My fear is that you’re going to have some councillors step forward to sit on committees because it’s additional money for a pay cheque and not be there for the right reasons. Personally, I wouldn’t support that portion of that,” Fedeyko said.
Coun. Susan Flowers didn’t support the motion as it was presented at council Monday night.
“We had a committee that looked into it and realized that we’re way behind and have been for several years. I think it's our business,” Flowers said.
“We should be putting this forward for the next council and having it in place so that we attract people that are right for the job and are paid fairly for the work that they will be doing.”
Mayor Jeff Genung said he prefers that remuneration no longer be an issue discussed at council. Regarding the task force, he was careful not to undervalue the hard work of the public body. He was also concerned at the perception the topic of salary increases has on local residents.
“My argument is we spend hours talking about our own salaries every single term. It’s doesn’t matter who is sitting here,” Genung said.
“We spend more time on 0.1 per cent of our budget than we do on the other 99.9 percent-ish.”
Genung wants remuneration to be handled by administration. Council can opt to change it at any time and revisit it at budget time next fall.
