West Vancouver mayor and council will make more money, pay more taxes and take home exactly what they used to following a contentious remuneration debate Monday.
The mayor is set to get $16,506 more for 2019, bringing her salary to $119,668. Councillors will be paid $46,217, a $4,952 raise.
The increases are intended to keep salaries consistent amid an Ottawa “tax grab,” according to Coun. Nora Gambioli, who explained the federal government is now taking a bigger chunk of mayor and council’s salaries – one-third of which were previously non-taxable.
Serving on council is: “overwhelmingly time consuming,” Gambioli continued, estimating she works between 20 and 24 hours per week on municipal matters.
“If I had my druthers I would say that we actually deserve to be paid twice this much,” she said.
Collectively, mayor and council are set to be paid an extra $46,218. That money could be better spent hiring a junior or part-time district employee, according to Coun. Marcus Wong, who voted against the raise.
“If this passes, I would encourage my colleagues around the table to see how much they can give back to the community,” he said, suggesting he would donate his extra pay to community groups.
“You will be giving that money to the federal government in income tax,” Gambioli responded. “You’re not going to have any left over to give to the community. That’s the whole point.”
Serving as a councillor is less a job than a privilege, according to Coun. Sharon Thompson, who joined Wong in opposing the extra pay.
“I don’t feel comfortable taking the increase,” she said.
Addressing the concern that lower salaries could mean inferior candidates, Thompson praised the high quality of West Vancouver volunteers: “who often spend more time volunteering than we do at our jobs.”
Coun. Craig Cameron accused Thompson and Wong of “playing politics” with the issue, noting they each attended the recent Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference.
“I look forward to Couns. Wong and Thompson not submitting their $5,000-plus expense claims for going on a week-long junket to Quebec City at FCM this week, including staying at nice hotels and per diems and flights,” he said.
“Politicking is when you pull a card like that,” Thompson shot back, adding she paid for her own flight. “It’s a shame that you had to bring that up.”
Attending conferences builds teamwork, cultivates relationships, and facilitates discussions with other municipalities, Wong said, encouraging his colleagues to attend future conferences.
Cameron disagreed, saying he’d never found it worthwhile to fly across Canada for conferences. Discussing his support for the raise, Cameron described the high costs of paying property tax and school tax on a West Vancouver house.
“There’s just no way I could afford to do this job [without remuneration],” he said.
Serving on council should not be the exclusive domain of the independently wealthy, Mayor Mary-Ann Booth said.
“These positions should be inclusive and should be open to a wide spectrum from our community,” she said, suggesting salaries should be sufficient for single mothers, newcomers, and young people seeking to run for office.
“We’re also not martyrs and we do have expenses to cover,” she said.
While he voted in favour of the pay hike, Coun. Bill Soprovich seemed apathetic.
“One way or the other, I don’t care,” Soprovich said, adding he would do his job as he always had. “I found that very strange how everyone else had to pay full taxes and we got a deduction.”
Coun. Peter Lambur voted for the raise but did not comment during debate.
