White Rock staff who were asked to re-review what the city’s mayor is paid are standing by their initial recommendation to base the calculation on the average of that given to Port Moody, Pitt Meadows and Langley City mayors.
And councillor pay, added city manager Dan Bottrill, should be 40 per cent of that sum.
The changes were narrowly endorsed by council Monday (4-3, with Couns. Helen Fathers, Grant Meyer and Louise Hutchinson opposed) and are to take effect Jan. 1, 2015.
They translate to an increase of approximately $3,000 to the councillors’ stipend (to $29,616) and $14,000 to the mayor’s (to $74,041).
The new rates evolved from a request to staff last March to review the politicians’ remuneration.
That review determined the pay fell short when compared to that of mayors and councillors in other similar-sized communities, with the mayor’s pay the most noticeable discrepancy – at nearly $13,000 below the average of his peers.
Nov. 4, council voted 4-3 in favour of larger increases to councillor pay – based on the average remuneration of politicians in six municipalities. A motion by Fathers at that time that was aimed at bypassing any increase to the mayor’s pay did not have the intended effect, Bottrill noted.
The 40 per cent rate ratio is in line with what many Metro Vancouver communities are using, he added.