Hinton council will consider recommended changes for how elective officials are renumerated at its next meeting.
The Council Remuneration Committee, which presented its recommendations on Tuesday (Nov. 12), recommended that comparator municipalities 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.
“We felt as a committee that it was not feasible to compare your data with places that were only 50 or 60 per cent of your population and had nowhere near the assessment base of the town of Hinton,” said Mike Storey, chairperson of the Council Remuneration Committee.
Coun. Kristen Chambers voiced support for this change, saying it puts Hinton in a more realistic grouping.
Among other proposed changes, council’s remuneration would be in alignment with the market rate of the 60th percentile of comparator municipalities.
Coun. Stuart Taylor noted he heard some people complain about how Hinton council members were overpaid compared to similar municipalities and asked if that was true.
Storey said it was a little more than 60 per cent but wasn’t the highest.
“There’s some municipalities that would probably be better to compare with by population but not necessarily are they resource towns like Hinton,” he added. “I’ll note that Hinton is lowest on the list as far as its residential and non-residential mill rates.”
Councillors would get $12,000 per term for professional development, rather than $3,000 per year to simplify accounting. They would be able to attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities if it is within the annual preferred budget for professional development.
Coun. Trevor Haas described the idea of one professional development allowance covering all four years as “unique and different.”
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.
The technology allowance would double from $1,500 per term to $3,000 per term, and it would be prorated if an elected official leaves before the full term or comes in through a by-election.
The committee also suggested changing its presentation date to Feb. 28 in the year of an election so they would have more time to come up with recommendations.
Changes to council remuneration would not come into effect until after the 2025 municipal election.
