Photo By Claire McCormack
Northern Bruce Peninsula is looking to give council a five per cent wage increase during 2023 budget deliberations.
During a meeting on Jan. 30, council continued discussing the draft budget initially presented by Treasurer Teresa Shearer earlier in January, which included a 4.93 per cent tax rate increase.
The budget proposes increasing councils wage by five per cent over 2022 to meet cost of living.
“There was a survey done for council prior to the election and it did note that council salaries are low, and there should probably be something done about that to try and bring them more in line with what other municipalities are paying,” says Mayor Milt McIver.
Shearer says they compared their salaries to about seven other municipalities.
It was found the municipality lags in the 20th percentile of the market by an average of 12 per cent.
McIver is currently the lowest paid in the comparator group, and Deputy Mayor Rod Anderson is the second lowest for their position.
“The Mayor’s wage was not even on the grid, so it was extremely low. The Deputy Mayor’s was I believe in the 20th percentile and usually we try to aim at 50th,” says Shearer.
Additionally, the councillor position for Northern Bruce Peninsula currently sits at the second lowest for the comparator group.
McIver asked Shearer to look at options to bring salaries to the 50th percentile.
Council will be receiving the second draft of the budget on Feb. 13.