Summerside council makes changes on how they get paid

The City of Summerside, P.E.I., has a new bylaw to determine what members of council get paid.

The Council Remuneration bylaw passed second and final reading Monday night at the regular meeting. The bylaw is required by the new provincial Municipal Government Act. The city did have  previous bylaw and there are some differences in the new one.

The major change is the salaries of the council, including mayor and deputy mayor, will be adjusted on Jan. 1, and can be raised based on the Consumer Price Index.

In the past, every four years there was an independent study carried out that looked at the salaries and made recommendations. Council was also free to make changes at anytime, and it usually happened through the budget process. 

The bylaw sets the following salaries.

• Mayor: $50,107.
• Deputy mayor: $27,053.
• Councillor: $25,053.

These are the same as the current salaries, said Coun. Brian McFeely, chair of the governance policy and strategy committee.

"It sort of sets this as the base, and then there'd be cost of living increases, so you won't get these significant ups and downs that you've seen in the past." he said.

Another change is the way councillors have to go about giving themselves a raise. Any changes to the bylaw in regards to  compensation or benefits has to first go through an independent commission that will be appointed by council. It must consist of one to three members who are not on council or municipal staff. The commission would look at the change, make comparisons to other councils, consider budgetary impacts, and how it might affect attracting councillors. 

The new council can still decide with each budget if they will go with the increase for cost of living.

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