Salary increases proposed for mayor, councillors due to tax changes

Red Deer’s mayor and city councillors could see significant salary increases next year rather than suffer income losses due to tax changes.

City administration is recommending the mayor’s salary increase by 18 per cent and councillor salaries by 13 per cent to counter changes to the Federal Income Tax Act.

It’s proposed that the mayor’s salary go from $112,198.94 to $131,940.43 and city councillor salaries from $60,466.44 to $68,618.16. The net pay difference would be additional $1.94 annually for the mayor and $2.86 for councillors.

As of January 1 salaries and allowances for elected officials in Canada will no longer be one-third tax free. As a result, the annual take-home pay would drop by more than $12,500 for Red Deer’s mayor and just over $5,800 for city councillors if their current salaries remained the same.