Lethbridge City Hall -- LNN

By Dori Modney with files from Lara Fominoff

City Council and Administrative staff to forgo 2020 pay increase

Dec 9, 2019 | 5:53 PM

LETHBRIDGE — Deputy Mayor Councillor Belinda Crowson says Council is very well aware of what the economic conditions are right now and wants to lead the way.

With that in mind, Council unanimously approved on Monday (Dec 9) that their salaries remain at 2019 rates for 2020 and that City Administrative employee salaries will also be held at 2019 rates for next year.

The motion to put a hold on salaries came from Crowson.

“We set this resolution to hold zero percent for Council and zero percent for administrative staff for 2020, and of course, it will be re-evaluated at the end of the year (2020), to see if it should remain or what should happen.

“But, we cannot ask other people to take cuts and make changes, as we’re doing the operating reviews, said Crowson, “Unless we are planning to actually lead as Councillors.” Crowson couldn’t say how much of a saving the salary hold would be, however, she noted it all adds up.

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“Our (council) salaries right now are about $60,000 so if you take that two percent increase, it will not be a huge saving in amount for Council, but it will be considerably more when you’re looking at 235 administrative staff.”

“Again, it is a saving that we will reuse as part of our priorities, but it’s also setting a message for everyone else, that Council is serious – we’re doing the operating reviews, we are looking at everything, we have done a governance review and we are serious about moving ahead with efficiencies.”

While the Council and Administrative salaries are being held at zero increase, all other employees fall within ten different collective agreements based on area of work.

Mayor and Council follow a Council Remuneration and Benefits Policy that allows for cost of living adjustments on an annual basis. The decision today is suspending that policy for 2020.

It should be noted, that in January of 2019, Mayor and Council did get a pay increase, after Revenue Canada eliminated the federal one-third tax exemption on elected officials’ renumeration (salary) across the country. It had been in place since 1947 and included school board officials and commissions.

Prior to that, according to information obtained from the City of Lethbridge’s webpage, in 2017/18, Mayor Chris Spearman earned a salary of $117,179, while councillors (who are listed as part-time) earned between $43,998 and $48,658.

To make up for the loss of that one-third salary tax exemption, Lethbridge’s mayor and council salaries increased.

Mayor Chris Spearman now earns $144,688, while councillors earn $59,277.

As of 2019, Red Deer’s mayor earned $131,940 (up from $112,198) per year, while councillors earned $68,618 (up from $60,466).

The mayor also has a $28,000 per year travel and per diem budget, while each councillor gets a $10,500 per year budget.

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