By Sheldon Spackman

Compensating For A Previous Reduction

Red Deer County council approves remuneration changes

Jan 31, 2021 | 10:44 AM

Red Deer County council has approved a recommendation this week to amend its Councillor Remuneration Policy which will see the next elected council receive a larger stipend this fall.

The proposed amendments approved on Tuesday, were recommended by an independent committee comprised of members of the public.

Members appointed to the committee, which was established prior to the 2010 municipal election, include Jack and Joan Donald, Gail Surkan, and Ron Woodward.

During their most recent review of the policy, it was determined that the mayor’s and councillor’s annual stipend be increased by 6.5 per cent.

This would result in an annual stipend of $96,926 for the mayor of Red Deer County, and $68,029 for councillors.

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The new rates would take effect following the Oct. 18, 2021 municipal election and remain in place for the full four-year term.

County officials say the change is recommended to partially compensate for the de facto reduction in council remuneration in 2019 as a result of Canada Revenue changes in tax policy, and to recognize that the rate will be fixed for the full four-year-term.

Items considered during the review of the stipends included comparatives from adjacent urban and rural municipalities along with other similar rural municipalities located throughout the province; the amount of time elected officials are required to dedicate to their duties and the change implemented by Revenue Canada starting in 2019 where the one-third federal tax exemption was no longer available for elected officials.

The County says this essentially resulted in a 7.9 per cent decrease in the average take home pay for elected officials, as Red Deer County did not make an adjustment for this change.

The Committee is also recommending that the per diem amounts that are applied only for meetings and conferences that are at locations outside the County’s boundaries remain the same at $210 per day and $105 for a half day (up to four hours).

Officials say the Councillor Remuneration Policy provides for simplicity and predictability as the prospective candidates will be aware of what the anticipated annual stipend will be if they are successful in being elected.

The changes are also said to continue to show a separation between elected officials and employees as the compensation for elected officials is not being considered on an annual basis.

According to County officials, councillor remuneration amounts are included within the annual operating budget; as the proposed increase is applied for only two months of 2021, and it is not anticipated that an amendment to the budget will be required.

An allowance will be included in future years’ operating budgets to cover the increase.