Stratford town council members' compensation to go up
Nicole Williams | CBC News | Posted: June 15, 2017 10:00 AM | Last Updated: June 15, 2017
Council members will receive more money per resident over the next two years
The town council in Stratford, P.E.I., approved an increase to its compensation rate Wednesday, voting in favour of a hike that will take effect over the next two years.
Under the new rates, Mayor David Dunphy will receive $2.62 per resident by 2018 while Deputy Mayor Randy Cooper will receive $1.50 per resident and councillors will receive $1.31 per resident.
That is up from $1.94 per resident for the mayor currently, $1.13 per resident for the deputy mayor and $0.98 per resident for councillors.
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor | $1.25 | $1.94 | $2.62 |
| Deputy Mayor | $0.75 | $1.13 | $1.50 |
| Councillor | $0.65 | $0.98 | $1.31 |
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The compensation increase was recommended by resolveHR, an independent consultant hired by the town.
Based on the population of 2016, the report estimated the mayor's salary at $12,133 last year, the deputy mayor's salary at $7,280 and councilors salaries at $6,309.
Assuming the population stays the same — but taking into account the rate per resident increase — those 2016 pay levels would essentially double in 2018, according to the report, with the mayor's salary estimated at more than $25,000, the deputy mayor's salary at more than $14,000 and coucillors making more than $12,500.
'A modest increase'
"It's a modest increase. There's certainly no $40,000 or $50,000 salaries being handed out for councillors in Stratford," said Cooper.
The consultant conducted a council compensation review, comparing Stratford to other municipalities of similar sizes across the Island and the rest of the Maritimes.
Independent review
According to the review, Stratford "lags well behind all other comparator towns throughout Maritime Canada in terms of compensation for elected officials."
Cooper said the increase will help keep Stratford competitive.
The resolveHR review suggests low levels of compensation can discourage qualified citizens from seeking public office.
The new compensation rates are retroactive to Jan. 1, 2017.
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- An earlier version of this story said salaries would double in next four years. In fact, the salaries in 2018 will be approximately double the 2016 salaries. June 15, 2017 2:46 PM