It’s the time of year when municipal councils begin playing Santa Claus to themselves with increases in how much they are paid for their service. Are continued increases in how much local councils are paid appropriate when so many people in other occupations are not getting raises or are living with the challenges of high prices for basic needs? These local councils need to better consider these decisions in the context of current social and economic challenges.
Alfred and Plantagenet Council is the latest local government to authorize an increase for itself with a two per cent increase for the mayor and a 10.5 per cent increase for councillors. There is considerable irony in these increases considering we so often hear that municipalities do not have sufficient funds to properly maintain services and that tax increases should not be too significant.
Municipal politics in small-town and rural Ontario is a part-time job. Mayors increasingly fulfill their roles in a de facto full-time way, mostly because municipalities these days are required to do so much, and to do it in a way that is highly professionalized with an enhanced level of service. Councillors are often taken from their regular jobs to fulfill their municipal duties. However, many people these days are not getting raises. Wages cannot keep up with the high cost of food and other basic goods. It does not look good when elected officials give themselves a raise for a part time job when a trip to the grocery store or paying monthly utility bills is inducing so much anxiety for others.
Council pay increases also look particularly bad when municipal budgets are being prepared and there is a tax increase that ultimately leads to a further increase in the cost of owning a home. When councils adopt these increases, there is seldom a word spoken by any of the members about the decision. There is usually just a quick show of hands in favour, and the mayor instantly taps the gavel and says “carried.”
It is easy to get a raise when one is in the position to give it to themselves. Most workers do not have that privilege. Even small business owners are reluctant to give themselves raises because they want to ensure their employees are properly compensated and the bills get paid first. Part-time municipal councils should be thinking of the financial challenges facing citizens and about paying the municipality’s bills before giving themselves raises.
