While you were swimming with the kids or sleeping in the hammock in the backyard over the B.C. Day long weekend, Victoria council gave themselves a pay hike.
Council signed off on an immediate increase of almost 2%, a cost of living increase they willingly skipped in 2021. Several councillors expressed reservations about the hike, indicating they would willingly give it to charity.
Council voted to bring in an acting mayor stipend that adds on an average 4% annually to their salary. They are each in the role five or six times annually during the term, according to a schedule we obtained from the city clerk. The demands of the role seem negligible at best.
Councillor pay will be hiked about 12.5% in 2026 based on 45% of the mayor’s salary. At 45%, it’s the highest percentage of any city in the province. Every time the mayor’s salary goes up, councillor pay automatically gets a bump. So stay tuned for the mayor’s salary to be reviewed in 2026.
In the meantime, an RRSP retirement benefit is also under discussion. Staff are to report back to council, their employer, with their views sometime soon.
Cost-of-living hikes have been in place since 2019 and will continue, with additional increases kicking in at the start of 2025 and 2026.
It’s time to remind taxpayers that three councillors and the mayor also received from $29,000 to $33,000 for sitting on the CRD as directors, according to the statement of financial information in 2023.
Don’t turn to the city to learn that you as a taxpayer will be forking over at least 20% more in councillor pay. After approving these changes council is now on a month-long break from what many residents believe is a part-time job. And, by the way, the Remuneration Task Force couldn’t determine if the job was a full-time position.
Despite having a large communications department, no press release has gone out informing the public or prominent posting added to the civic website.
Unlike Saanich, Colwood, the CRD and other jurisdictions that have a prominent page detailing ‘council remuneration and expenses’, city residents need to spend an hour searching in a so-called Open Data Portal to find the information.
After years of sharing that information with residents, the city has buried council remuneration information so it’s very difficult to find.
After these outsized pay and benefits for a part-time job are finalized, isn’t it time to be upfront and more transparent with taxpayers and give them the details?
Stan Bartlett, vice-chair
Grumpy Taxpayer$ of Greater Victoria
