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Revelstoke task force to reconsider mayor and council pay

Discussion brought back to forefront after councillor resignation in early 2020
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Revelstoke City Council has voted to form a Council Remuneration Task Force to review mayor and council pay. (Jocelyn Doll/Revelstoke Review)

Revelstoke city council has voted to form a task to review what to pay council and the mayor.

The Council Remuneration Task Force will look at council indemnity comparisons to other B.C. municipalities similar in size to Revelstoke, the level of commitment required of mayor and council and the pay impact on attracting qualified elected officials.

A report will be presented to council with the goal to adopt any proposed changes prior to the next municipal election, which is scheduled for fall 2022.

This task force is a result of a motion made in February 2020, when public outcry and the resignation of a city councillor caused council to backtrack on proposed pay raises.

FROM 2020: Revelstoke city council backtracks on pay raises

First proposed in the fall of 2019 by Coun. Cody Younker, who is currently on leave from his position, council was considering a $10,000 raise for each councillor and a $45,000 raise for mayor, to be implemented over three years.

It would have meant a 0.2 per cent property tax increase in 2020, with smaller increases the following two years. However, on Jan. 21, 2020, Coun. Steven Cross resigned in protest of the raises. “Mayor and fellow councillors I am resigning from this council…for the following reasons, approving pay raises of 134 per cent for mayor and 67 per cent for councillors in a budget year where the town has a $500,000 revenue hole to deal with and our roads are a mess is a choice of self-interest over mission of service to our community,” he said at the time.

READ MORE: UPDATE: Revelstoke City Council gives themselves a raise, councillor resigns in protest

Two days later, Younker announced he would no longer support the raises, adding he believed it’s important for leaders to listen to their constituents and he was thankful that so many people engaged in the issue.


 

@JDoll_Revy
jocelyn.doll@revelstokereview.com

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