Why can’t Langford and Sidney councils bother to follow their own best practices on remuneration that were developed by the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM)?
The next mayor of Langford will see a pay bump of $30,000 or 24% to $124,656, while each councillor will have their compensation increased by $13,600 or 28% to $47,817 a year.
The UBCM council and board remuneration guide recommends reviews should be done at least a year prior to the next general election, not eight months.
As for transparency and communicating with the public, Langford still doesn’t publicly post pay or benefits from city duties or those as a result of their position.
The next mayor of Sidney will see a pay hike of $13,612 or 28% to $61,872, while each councillor will have their pay boosted by $7,328 or 38% to $26,605.
This salary review also wasn’t done at least a year prior to the next general election. The important remuneration bylaw was then adopted despite the absence of one councillor.
The UBCM also recommends a third-party consultant or community task force to recommend pay levels. When staff recommend pay increases for their bosses, it puts them in a conflict of interest situation.
All the compensation mentioned above are for base salaries only and take effect after the next election. Unfortunately, there was no discussion about additional pay received as a result of their position, any taxpayer-paid extended benefits or the council expense policy.
Neither hefty salary increase was discussed as a way to lower the proposed 15.13% property tax increase in Langford and the 12.4% hike now under consideration in Sidney.
Councils shouldn’t wonder why they struggle with public credibility and why some taxpayers are gnarly.