How much should Barrie’s next mayor and city councillors be paid?
More, says the city’s council compensation review committee.
It recommends, for the 2022-26 term of office, a modest increase for Barrie’s 10 councillors and a sizable one for the next mayor. All will be elected in the Oct. 24 municipal election, with nominations opening May 2.
The committee recommends increasing the base pay for councillors to $40,983 annually from $39,798, the deputy-mayor would get $7,500 on top of that, instead of the current $5,000, and the annual car allowance would accelerate to $2,400 from $2,100 for councillors and to $3,600 from $3,300 for the deputy-mayor.
Deputy Mayor Barry Ward, the city’s longest-serving councillor, said the amount of compensation recommended by the committee, a citizen body, is fair.
“It is a fairly small increase, but reflects the fact the workload has increased,” he said. “As the city grows, the number of issues handled by ward councillors, such as constituent concerns, and the number of meetings have increased. It has certainly increased during my time on council and I suspect it will continue to do so in the future.
“The time spent on council business varies greatly by the number and type of committees the councillor sits on as well as the time of year,” Ward added. “I like to say it probably ranges from 20 to 30 hours per week.”
Barrie councillors will consider a motion Monday night recommending these increases, which will also include an extended health and dental benefits plan, life insurance and a pension plan, along with an increased car allowance.
The next mayor’s salary increase is significant, however.
It would increase from the current annual rate of $122,580 to $127,172 next year, $131,937 in 2024, $136,880 in 2025 and $142,008 in 2026. And the mayor’s car allowance would go to $6,600 annually from $6,000.
Ward is uniquely qualified to speak on council compensation because he’s served the longest of current councillors. First elected Ward 4 councillor in 2000, he has also been Barrie’s deputy-mayor during this last term of council.
“I agree with the increase recommended for the deputy-mayor’s position in the future,” Ward said. “Much of the position’s responsibilities is representing the city at events: business openings, celebrations, community events. Because of the pandemic, the number of these have been limited for half of my term as deputy-mayor, but there have still been many.
“I suspect the deputy-mayor in the next council term will be even busier,” he added. “Also, many of the deputy-mayor’s responsibilities involve attending events during the day. I am fortunate in that I can do my ‘other’ job in the evening. It would be almost impossible to be deputy-mayor while having a 9-to-5 job. That’s another reason I think the increase in pay is warranted.”
The compensation committee’s recommendations total almost $600,000 more during the four-year term of office, increasing to $2.93 million from $2.33 million, which is a hike of $597,281.
This is for the base salaries of mayor, deputy-mayor and councillors, health, benefits and pension, car allowance, employee and family assistance programs, and conference expenses, recommended to increase to $25,000 from $15,000 annually.
If approved Monday night, city council would consider final approval of the compensation committee’s recommendations at its March 7 meeting.
The 2022 municipal election candidate package would also include information on the time required and expectations to serve on Barrie city council, a list of external and internal boards and committees that require council member representation and the process for expressing interest in serving as deputy-mayor, currently appointed by the mayor with council approval.
