Nobody likes getting a pay cut. It’s even worse if you have a salary system in place for a few years, only to have someone tinker with it for no apparent reason.
That pay cut has nothing to do with performance, work ethic or ability. It’s because somebody in Ottawa decided to change the pay structure for people across the country.
That’s exactly the situation that Estevan city council, and municipal councils across Canada, have found themselves in after the federal government decided to end the days of the tax exemption for non-accountable allowances, which accounted for one-third of their compensation.
It means council members will have less take-home pay.
Now, it should be noted that the amount of money council members will be losing isn’t onerous. In order to fully compensate a council member for the money lost, a councillor would have to receive an additional $2,052 for the year, while the mayor would need to receive more than $6,000 a year.
But like most people, if you subtract more than $2,000 from their income per year, they’re going to feel it.
Urban municipal councils aren’t the only one feeling the hit. So are rural municipality councils and school boards.
It’s pretty galling that the federal government has decided to take this step against these particular elected individuals. Municipal councils and school board trustees are the bedrock of our democracy. The vast majority of them aren’t doing it for the money. It’s not their full-time job. They aren’t looking to cover their beer and popcorn expenses.
It’s something they choose to do because they have a vision, and they want to do what’s in the best interest for their community or for education in the area.
It’s often a thankless job dealing with members of the public who don’t recognize how difficult and taxing the job is.
Council members and school board trustees deserve better.
We’re not sure why the feds have taken the step to remove the non-accountable allowances now. Perhaps it’s because there were elections late last year in Ontario and B.C., so the feds decided this was the time to try it, with new councils in those populous provinces. And can’t remove non-accountable allowances in Ontario, and allow them to remain in Saskatchewan until their next civic election.
So you remove them now, and let Saskatchewan municipalities deal with this change in the middle of their term.
Many Saskatchewan municipal councils have decided to increase their pay to offset the money that they would lose. And you can’t fault them for it. After all, how many of us would do the exact same thing if we found ourselves in that situation?
You also have to applaud councils and school boards that decided not to give themselves a raise to offset the wages they have lost. They know they are dealing with the taxpayer’s dollars, and when they give themselves a raise, people won’t be happy, especially when it happens mid-term.
Which brings us to Estevan city council. Council decided to turn to a remuneration committee to decide whether they should receive less money for the next two years. The remuneration committee has long been a bright move by Estevan’s council, allowing a committee of appointed citizens to determine council’s wage for the next term.
After all, if council gives themselves a raise, people aren’t going to be happy.
When a committee suggests a wage increase, it’s not so bad.
The committee’s recommendation is to restore half of the money council members would lose due to this change. It wasn’t resoundingly applauded; we’ll see if council approves it at their next meeting.
The smart move for council would be to say no to a wage increase or to side with the committee’s compromise solution. It would be a huge mistake to overrule the committee and give themselves full compensation for the wages lost.
Taxpayers would revolt, and they would have a hard time finding people to be part of this valuable committee again.
