By rdnewsNOW staff

Rocky Mountain House updating council remuneration policy

Oct 19, 2018 | 9:53 AM

The Town of Rocky Mountain House is taking steps to prepare for upcoming federal income tax changes that will impact remuneration rates for councillors and other elected officials this January.

Starting in 2019, the Federal government is removing a tax exemption that currently sees elected officials receive one third of their honorarium and per diems or non-accountable expense allowances to be tax-free.

According to town officials, this means that income will now become taxable, so their remuneration policy needs to be changed in order to maintain net income for councillors and other elected officials.

Rocky Mountain House CAO Dean Krause says council has asked Administration to update the policy to adjust to the upcoming federal income tax changes.

“Currently, their council meetings are paid a per diem and their committee meetings are paid their monthly honorarium,” explains Krause. “We’re just exploring to see if we reverse that, what would be the budget impact and once they know the budget impact, they will review that again on November 20.”

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He says the idea for a remuneration policy change came from Town Administration, as it was last updated in 2008.

“The amount of committee meetings is a variable, whereas council meetings are set,” states Krause. “It just seemed to make more sense to explore the idea that a per diem is paid for the variables and let the honorarium take care of the established meetings.”

Areas to be addressed in The Town’s new draft remuneration policy are said to include more clarity on honoraria, per diem rate, political events, expenses, education and professional development, as well as a health benefits program.