By Colin Smith
The base pay of Morinville’s mayor and councillors would dip by 8.7% for the mayor and 21.7% for councillors if recommendations of the Council Remuneration Review Committee were adopted.
Following the committee’s recommendations would result in the mayor of Morinville’s annual honorarium dropping from $65,664 to $59,880 and that of councillors to $35,280 from $27,594.
The committee delivered its report and policy recommendations at the regular meeting of council on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
Earlier this year, the council approved a bylaw to set up the committee, with a mandate to determine fair and equitable compensation for council members based on their responsibilities while also considering fiscal responsibility and transparency.
The Council Remuneration Review Committee process occurs once during each council term and applies to the following council.
Comprising five Morinville electors appointed by the Chief Administrative Officer following an application process, the committee began its work in July.
Its tasks included reviewing council remuneration and benefits and providing a report with recommendations on honorariums, benefits, pensions, per diems, and other form of remuneration.
The committee also provided a methodology to be used to establish future adjustments to remuneration, including comparators and frequency recommendations on revisions to Morinville’s policies related to council remuneration.
Chief among its recommendations was a revision of the group of municipalities used for comparison when Morinville is determining remuneration, and then basing it on the 65th percentile of compensation paid to council members of those comparators.
Currently the comparator group is made up of Devon, Fort Saskatchewan, Lacombe, Hinton, Whitecourt, Stony Plain, Beaumont, Cochrane, Spruce Grove and Sturgeon County.
For the new group, the last four of these municipalities would be dropped and Blackfalds, Coaldale, Olds and Taber would be added.
The percentile used to determine remuneration would be bumped to 65th from the current 50th, to be reviewed and adjusted every two years along with per diems.
If a 50th percentile of the new comparators group remuneration is used as the standard, the mayor’s honorarium would be $54,576 and councillors’ $25,331.
Other recommendations from the report were abolishing the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) for council members, increasing per diem expense rates, limiting per diems for alternate members of committees and boards attending along with the primary member, and restricting the number of council members going to out-of-province events to two.
The Council Remuneration Review Committee members were Brian Bost, Chair, Kelvin Colliar, Vice Chair, Fred Bahr, Rainier Kubos and Kelvin Kuzyk.
The committee’s work is now complete and its non-binding report was accepted by council as information.
Further into the meeting a motion to move the issue forward was made by Mayor Simon Boersma.
The motion, which passed unanimously, directed administration to bring forward “a comprehensive report that includes the Hillcrest Compensation Report, the Council Remuneration Review and any other relevant considerations” to the Feb. 11, 2025 regular meeting of council.
The end result of a third-party remuneration review conducted by Hillcrest Financial, the Hillside Compensation Report was presented to council in February.
It found that Mornville’s mayor and councillors are paid substantially less than the town’s council remuneration policy calls for, based on the 50th percentile of the current 10 comparator municipalities.
According to the report the mayoral honorarium is currently 25.38% below the 50th percentile of the defined market. The councillor rate is currently 14.86% below the 50th percentile.
During the discussion of the review committee’s recommendations some council members questioned its choice of comparators.
Councillor Maurice St. Denis sought assurance that in producing its comprehensive report administration would select comparators that are a “true match” for Morinville.
“I think I’ve heard from most members of council concern about the some of the comparators that were added and also removed from the previous list,” he said.
“I’m not sure the report accounts for the unique demands we have in Morinville, the context in which we govern,” said Boersma.
“As part of the Edmonton Metropolitan region, our council is uniquely positioned to engage in regional partnerships. I don’t see that in all the comparator communities.
“We advocate for local priorities and navigate pressures that smaller or more rural communities may not face.”
“There are a whole lot of things that go into being a councillor,” said Councillor Ray White. “It’s not just the time we spend here. You have to look at what is involved in the work to understand why we get paid what we do.”
Addressing another concern, Councillor Stephen Dafoe stated his view that if pay for council members was going to be lowered the measure would have to apply to the current council as well as the upcoming one.
Interesting that no previous council members were on committee. Therefore it’s tough to know how it’s prudent to suggest that only two members go to out of province conventions. I too (after getting elected) though these trips were JUST tax payer paid holidays. Until I attend a couple. That’s when you find out the value of a council that can meet with no normal interruptions like family and work. Lots get discussed because we get time to do it. At home, rarely do these discussions occur. (We have lives to live) Plus, opportunities present themselves to learn from other councils mistakes and prevent ourselves from committing the same mistakes, possibly saving far more than a few flights and hotel rooms.
When increases are recommended they are accepted because deciding group was independent. Will watch to see next move.