Victoria council on Thursday (Aug. 1) supported almost all of the recommendations from an independent task force that investigated councillor compensation levels, including that their base pay level remains the same until next term.
Council received backlash in the spring after voting to increase their base pay this term from 40 to 50 per cent of the mayor's salary. It then put that bump on hold and struck a three-person task force to present options on how to move forward with pay adjustments.
That independent panel concluded that the value of work provided by each councillor was not being met by current compensation levels. Council voted in favour of nine of the task force's 10 recommendations – which deal with benefits, reviving a stipend for the acting mayor and more – but few got unanimous approval. One directive on travel expenses was referred as it deals with a motion coming forward in the coming months.
The city politicians supported the task force's call to raise councillor base pay levels to 45 per cent of the mayor's salary following the next municipal election.
While its base pay has long gone unchanged, council does gets an annual bump that's tied to local inflation. Councillors will also get a slight increase in their pay retroactive to the start of this year that will reflect the inflation-adjusted raise the former council decided not to take in 2021.
That was one of the task force's recommendations as its chair Margaret Lucas said Victoria was one of the few cities where councillors forgoed such a scheduled raise as it dealt with the pandemic.
"Although I think at the time it was thought to be a very honourable thing to do during a very difficult time, it has put you behind in remuneration," Lucas said Thursday.
Mayor Marianne Alto and Coun. Chris Coleman voted against that measure as they said it was akin to a raise this term. Their opposition was joined by Coun. Susan Kim, who said other workers impacted by the pandemic haven't received retroactive raises.
While noting their initial decision was informed by a consultant’s report that found Victoria council was being compensated less than its counterparts in comparable B.C. cities, multiple councillors on Thursday called the vote to increase their pay this term a "mistake."
After initiating the task force, Victoria also advocated for the province to take over setting council remuneration. That topic will also be debated at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention next month.
As the individual recommendations garnered debate and split votes, councillors Matt Dell and Dave Thompson said it would've been more proper for council to wholly support the independent task force's calls.
"Let's do what they've asked us to do here and not get into the weeds because that's a mistake we made last time," Dell said.
Councillors echoed elements of the task force's findings as they said holding public office in Victoria comes with extra responsibilities because it's a capital city, it serves as the regional economic and tourism hub and it hosts the majority of the South Island's homelessness and social services.
Some of their comments also mirrored findings of a governance review conducted for Victoria, which identified current pay levels as a barrier for candidates who may otherwise be interested in running for local office.
