Amendments passed on council remuneration policy

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on December 15, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

City council on Tuesday unanimously passed amendments to the city’s policy on council remuneration and benefits. The amendments were addressed recently at the Governance Standing Policy committee of city council.
Among the amendments recommended in a motion at the SPC by deputy mayor Belinda Crowson was that the acting mayor be compensated for extra duties while filling that role. On Tuesday, Crowson reiterated that in the past there have been times when the acting mayor has taken on work which normally would have been done by the deputy mayor who is paid 10.6 per cent more while filling that role. Both positions require the person in that role to take on additional committee duties with the deputy mayor carrying a heavier load.
Council agreed the acting mayor should be paid an additional 5.3 per cent after acting mayor Rajko Dodic rescinded an amendment which would call for no extra compensation be paid to the acting mayor.
Saying he acted in haste, Dodic changed his mind after listening to comments made by Crowson as well as councillors John Middleton-Hope and Jeff Carlson.
The policy also calls for a remuneration review to be conducted in the third year of a council’s term with it to be implemented on Jan. 1 of the year following a civic election.
“This is similar to the timing used by several other like sized municipalities and avoids overlap with the election year. This will remain an autonomous process under this policy that won’t require approval but will be shared for information. It should be noted that due to the resolution to freeze compensation for 2020 (third year of the term), 2021(final year) and 2022 (first year) no review will be conducted until the third year of this Council’s term,” says the recommendation.

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