Kelowna council votes to top up salaries after feds scrap tax break

Kelowna City Council voted Monday to increase their pay to make up for a change in federal income tax laws.

Council voted in favour of increasing the mayor's salary by $11,380 while increasing city councillors' by $3,050.

The bump is a reaction to the 2018 federal budget ditching the current tax-free expense allowance for elected officials which amounts to one-third of their income being tax free.

The pay increase was recommended by city staff. Kelowna's director of financial services said it came after "intensive" review.

"We surveyed 22 other local governments throughout B.C. and also the Yukon to determine what these municipalities were considering in response to the federal government legislation changes," Genelle Davidson told Daybreak South host Chris Walker.

"The majority of these municipalities decided to top up the salaries to make their councils whole."

The pay bump and the change in tax rules means city councillors will not be getting a pay raise but won't lose any money either. However, Kelowna taxpayers will pay a larger portion of elected officials' salaries.

In general, Davidson says Kelowna has relatively low pay for mayor and council when compared to cities of similar size. Mayor Colin Basrancurrently receives $95,695 annually, while councillors receive $33,493 annually.

She says keeping pay competitive is important for attracting people to local politics.

"It does come with a lot of responsibility and decision making, and, frankly, it's not a job that everybody can do or wants to do," she said.

Davidson says in approving the salary top-up, council also decided to forego itsregular yearly pay increase tied to the consumer price index.

The pay increase will beginin 2019, the same year the federal tax break for elected officials ends.

Listen to the full interview:

With files from CBC Radio One's Daybreak South