Chatham-Kent council voted in favour of giving councillors an almost $3,000 raise for the next term (2022-2026) of council.
Councillors admitted that deciding on their own compensation was an awkward process, but many said it was better for this council to decide on compensation rather than having the next council decide on their own pay.
The issue was contentious, with many councillors saying that with many taxpayers in Chatham-Kent struggling, it didn’t seem like a good time to be discussing council compensation.
“We just went through a budget where we choose not to give ourselves a raise to recognize the struggle that’s out there in the community due to COVID and everything else, I just can’t support this,” said Councillor Steve Pinsonneault.
“Five days after we raise taxes (we decide to) give ourselves a raise? I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Councillor Michael Bondy.
Council, in a close 10-8 vote, agreed with the recommendations of a citizen review committee to boost council pay. In a 12-6 vote, council voted in favour of creating a yearly $1,200 health spending account for the 17 part-time councillors.
The committee didn’t recommend giving the mayor position a raise, but recommended the mayor’s training budget be increased by $2,000. Both of those recommendations were also passed by council.
Currently, the Chatham-Kent mayor receives an annual salary of just under $117,000, while part-time councillors’ yearly salary is just shy of $34,000.