With Canada’s taxman at their door, City of North Vancouver council voted unanimously to boost their seven salaries a total of nearly $54,000.
Until Jan. 1, 2019, one-third of the salaries received by mayor and council was considered a non-taxable allowance for their expenses.
But with new taxes cutting into their take-home cash, council supported higher salaries, passing the pay raise without discussion.
Mayor Linda Buchanan is set to receive a $19,926 raise, bringing her annual salary to $127,111 in 2019.
Remuneration for the city’s six councillors is set to rise from $37,078 in 2018 to $42,454 in 2019. Councillors will also be paid $1,545 for serving as acting mayor, a bump from the 2018 stipend of $1,350.
In total, mayor and council are set to be paid $391,105. In 2018, mayor and council received $337,753.
Mayor and council generally tether their salary to the increases received by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the International Association of Fire Fighters. Council pay is also tied to the Consumer Price Index.
Those guidelines would have allowed mayor and council a 2.23 per cent raise in 2019. Instead, the mayor is set to receive a 16 per cent raise and councillors a 12 per cent boost.
All municipalities are addressing the measures they would take to “ensure that council members are kept whole,” according to a city staff report.
