The Burns Lake village council has approved pay raises for the mayor and councilors.
At its March 26 meeting, the council adopted Bylaw No. 993, 2019, which will see pay rates rise by 2 per cent over the levels of 2018.
Effective Jan. 1, 2019 the position of mayor will receive $19,667 per year, and councilor positions will receive $9,272.
Another change is that one-third of the pay, which was previously considered an income tax exempt allowance for expenses that were incidental to the job, is no longer tax exempt and the whole pay amount is now taxable, according to Bill C-44, passed in June, 2017.
The per diem payments for out of town business for mayor and councilors remain unchanged, and stand at $100 per day.
Changes to union pay rates are subject to negotiations, which are expected to start in April, Sheryl Worthing, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) told Lakes District News.
The raises mark a higher increase than those of 2018, when the mayor and councilor position pay rates rose by 1.75 per cent. Pay for the mayor went up to $18,073 and for councilors it rose to $8,520.
LOOK BACK: Burns Lake council raises pay
This year’s increases are almost $2,000 more for the mayor position than the raise in 2017, when the rate was upped to $17,762. Councilor pay rose to $8,373 that year.
READ MORE: Burns Lake council increases own remuneration
In neighbouring Houston, the mayor’s annual salary is $18,000 and councilors’ are $9,000, as of Jan. 1, 2018, said CAO Gerald Pinchbeck.
Bylaw 1113 increased the previous pay rates, which from 2010-2018 were $15,783.07 for the mayor and $7,891.54 for councilors.
Blair McBride
Multimedia reporter
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