Hinton council unanimously accepted recommended changes to how elected officials are compensated during its Tuesday (Nov. 19) meeting.
These recommendations come from the Council Remuneration Committee, which gave its presentation to council last week.
“I want to thank the committee for their work,” said Coun. Trevor Haas. “And I honestly think a lot of the things they came up with, especially around professional development, will solve a lot of ongoing issues we’ve had with that.”
Councillors will get $12,000 per term for professional development, rather than $3,000 per year, to simplify accounting. Any attendance at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities must be covered by this allowance.
To adjust for inflation, there would be a 3.3 per cent annual increase in monthly honoria, rather than only adjusting it once per term.
“It’s not a big increase, but they were also very mindful of doing it in increments over the span of a person’s term,” Haas said.
The technology allowance would double from $1,500 per term to $3,000 per term. The mayor and councillors will be entitled to an active living benefit each calendar year based on 50 per cent of the amount available to a regular full-time employee.
Administration noted these two programs would increase the operating budget starting in the fourth quarter of 2025. If both are fully subscribed, the annual increase over a four-year term would be $4,725.
Council remuneration was previously meant to target and not exceed the market rate of the 60th percentile of comparator municipalities, but the recommendation was it should aim to align with the 60th percentile.
Comparator municipalities will have a population between 8,000 and 12,000 with an average assessment base ranging between 80 and 120 per cent of Hinton’s assessment base. Market comparators were previously only Edson, Drayton Valley, Morinville, Whitecourt, Olds and Peace River.
The total financial impact of these changes will be roughly a $12,000 annual increase to the operating budget.
These changes will not take effect until after next year’s municipal election.
Haas added he appreciated administration bringing this forward a year ahead of time.
“In the past, we were kind of scrambling doing it right before an election, and it made it a little more difficult,” he said.
