EDMONTON - An independent committee has released its recommendation on how much pay, benefits, pensions, and allowances the next Edmonton mayor and councillors should earn.
There are a total of eight recommendations; four are described as significant changes.
One of the major changes is removing the tax exempt status and taxing the full amount of compensation. Currently, one-third of the mayor's and councillors' compensation is tax exempt.
In light of the change, the committee is recommending the salaries for the mayor and councilors increase so their take-home pay remains the same.
The committee has made the recommendation for transparency reasons.
"You take that to the average citizen in Edmonton and say, here's what a councillor's paid, but one-third is not taxable, it's a daunting, if not, almost impossible task for them to figure out," explains Vice-Chair of the compensation committee, Dan McKinley.
"On top of that, there's a misperception the amount received by councillors appears to be, you know, if you say, one-third, it sounds like a huge, huge benefit, where as, in reality it's not a particular huge amount per councillor," adds McKinley.
The committee is also recommending council compensation be adjusted each year based on the 12 month percentage change in Alberta average weekly earnings; councillors have the option of participating in one of two retirement packages, instead of the one package that is currently available to them; and, a salary increase of 2.5 per cent for city councilors (the increase would not apply to the mayor's salary).
The committee would like to see the gap narrowed between the mayor's and councillors' salaries.
"When we looked at the time commitment and the responsibility taken by councillors, it was certainly not insignificant compared to what the mayor was doing. So, we're thinking very similar," says McKinley.
Earlier this month, Mayor Mandel excepted a nearly $30,000 raise in 2013, ending three years of self-imposed salary freezes.
Dan McKinley believes city council members aren't overpaid considering their responsibilities and time commitment. He says, if anything, Edmonton council might be underpaid.
"If I was to take a look at a manager or a senior executive at an corporation that operates in the city, I would say they'd be very comparable," explains McKinley.
The committee also looked at the salaries of councillors across the country before making the recommendations.
"They are very comparable, and they're probably in the lower half of the range. It's much easier to compare them to, for example, Calgary, where the position is very similar, where they're not as well paid as the Calgary councillors are," says McKinley.
The five-member volunteer committee was appointed by the city manager last April to review the remuneration of the mayor and the 12 councillors. The group was selected based on their expertise and experience in a range of areas.
The recommendations will be presented to city council next week, but won't take affect until after this fall's municipal election.
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2013.