Merritt’s mayor and councillor remuneration will likely increase annually according to a provincial price index starting January 2012.
Council gave the first three readings to a bylaw proposing the change at a regular council meeting, Oct. 25.
“Having an annual increase will help keep council member remuneration current and should eliminate the need to have more substantial increases on an infrequent basis as has been done in the past,” said Financial Services Manager Marlie Worrin in a report prepared for council.
Under the current Council Indemnity Bylaw adopted in February 2008, remuneration is $20,000 annually for the mayor and $12,000 annually for each councillor. This amount has not changed since that time. However, the new bylaw proposes that effective Jan. 1, 2012, remuneration be increased annually by the same percentage as British Columbia’s annual average all-items Consumer Price Index of the previous year.
To put this in perspective, Worrin said that the annual average increase for 2010 was 1.3 per cent, which would have resulted in an addition of $260 for the mayor’s remuneration and $156 for each councillor.
During discussions at the Oct. 25 meeting, Councillor Dave Baker said he supported the idea.
“It’s transparent,” he said. “It will keep future councils from having to make this decision.”
Council had directed staff to add an annual Cost of Living Allowance increase to the remuneration after discussing the idea at a council workshop on Sept. 15.
Worrin explained that the B.C. annual average all-items Consumer Price Index is often used for indexation purposes as it averages the increases and decreases over the entire year, giving a better indication of how prices have changed from the beginning to end of the year.
