Don Darling offers salary boost to charity as council approves wage hikes

Saint John councillors voted themselves a large pay increase on Monday night, while approving a $154-million operating budget for 2017.

The salary increases were approved Monday night prior to the budget vote.

Councillor salaries will jump from $18,999 to a little under $29,800, including an expense allowance.

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Deputy Mayor Shirley McAlary will earn about $37,000 and the mayor's job will pay $75,000 including an allowance.

Mayor Don Darling said he will donate any net increase he receives next year to charity. 

Darling said he made that decision after getting feedback, both positive and negative, from the public.

"I've had members of the public on the no side suggest to me that, you know the mayor should work for free, that that should be the mayor's civic duty," said Darling, who earlier told reporters he works about 70 hours a week on the job.

Councillors David Merrithew, Gary Sullivan and Greg Norton voted against the boost to salaries.

2017 budget details

The city's property tax rate will hold steady.

With the approval, Saint John Police will get a $550,000 increase and the fire department will collect an additional $215,000.

Saint John Transit will see the city's portion of its budget increase $175,000 to $7.3 million.

Street resurfacing is also being beefed up with an increase of $590,000, bringing the total set aside for paving in the operating budget to nearly $5 million.

That will come on top of the $5.3 million for street and sidewalk reconstruction in the city's capital budget, which was approved last month.

The document also creates a special development fund dedicated simply to "growth."

McAlary praised the document while making the motion to approve it.

"It addresses roads, recreation, fire, police, all of our services," said McAlary.

"And if we look what our priorities are, I think our priorities tie into the budget."

Last-minute dissent 

Coun. Gary Sullivan cast the single dissenting vote.

Sullivan was upset a last-minute amendment to the budget that removed $50,000 in funding for the Cherry Brook Zoo, $50,000 for the Human Development Council and $20,000 for PRUDE Saint John and allocated those funds to the community grants committee for review.

The grants committee gets dozens of funding requests from other non-profit groups and will have a total budget of just $179,000.

"These [three] organizations have  traditionally received funding from the city," said Sullivan. 

"If we're changing our direction with regards to them I think it would be fair to at least hear from them in open council before we did so."

Another high profile non-profit, Sistema New Brunswick has asked the city for $50,000 in 2017.

That request has also been sent to the community grants committee, which is composed of two councillors, two community representatives and two city staff representatives.