It isn't very often that a newspaper will say town councillors need a raise. In fact, we're usually the ones defending the public purse when elected officials decide they want to rake in a bit more dough. While Cochrane councillors haven't recommended a pay increase for themselves, recent changes to tax law, which eliminates the reduced tax rate those who serve in office enjoyed, has sparked the conversation. Due to the change, elected officials will now be taxed on the one-third of their salaries that was previously exempt. Although that means they are playing by the same rules as their constituents, which they should be, being an elected official is not volunteer work and presumably constituents want to attract qualified and intelligent people to the job. Currently, councillors in Cochrane are part time positions earning $28,500 annually, while the mayor is full time earning $84,671. Part time is a bit of a misnomer considering councillors are rarely off duty, dealing with public concerns and complaints at all times of the day and night as well as attending regular council and committee meetings. At the current rate of pay and the regular tax rate, that mean councillors here are earning a little more than $900 every two weeks, more than $400 less than comparable communities. It is also $11,000 a year below the average part time salary in the province. Those kinds of numbers make it difficult to entice people to take on what can be a stressful position that comes with a great deal of responsibility. Last week, councillors discussed a variety of ways that could mitigate the change in tax law, although a couple councillors didn't mind the low pay – most councillors have secondary jobs or careers. The most obvious, and probably the simplest option, would be to raise the annual wage either to compensate for the loss incurred by the increase in tax or bring Cochrane's remuneration more in line with similar communities. Even the Canadian Taxpayer Federation, the lobbyist supporting the change in tax law, did not intend to see elected officials be paid less, and the push was based on the principle that the "public service shouldn’t have perks that regular people do not." The federation instead recommends that gross salaries be increased. Now council will debate what, if anything should be done. That debate should come with some kind of public consultation, especially if it will mean an increase in taxes or a loss in services. At the end of the day, being elected shouldn't be a path to financial freedom, nor should it pay more than what the average constituent makes, but it should be fair.
