The Citizen, 2010-12-09, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010. PAGE 17. Remuneration is compared among local councils
With new councils being sworn in,
the question may arise, what do they
get out of their service to the
community?
Council remuneration was a hot
topic before the election, with the
public and candidates weighing in at
a Morris-Turnberry all candidates
meeting.
On top of being able to represent
those who voted for them, and
providing a voice on matters they
feel passionately about, councillors,
reeves, mayors, deputy-mayors and
deputy-reeves receive compensation
for their work.
However, comparing one council,
or even specific members of a
council, on a pay scale is complex
due to the different bylaws used by
local councils.
Candidates and audience members
at the meeting stated that the council
charged too much for the services
they provide, drawing reference to
the fact that Mayor Dorothy Kelly
was paid double what mayors and
reeves in neighbouring councils
were paid.
While, on paper, there is validity
to the statement, there are several
factors to evaluate when considering
who is paid more or less across
neighbouring townships such as
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
(ACW), North Huron, Huron East,
Central Huron and Morris-
Turnberry.
The ‘pay’ that councillors receive
can be broken up into three
classifications: a stipend or
honorarium, remuneration for
meetings attended and the recovery
of costs.
The stipends or honorariums vary
from council to council. The new
mayor of Morris-Turnberry, Paul
Gowing, will actually receive the
second-lowest stipend at $7,938.05.
North Huron’s Reeve Neil Vincent,
ACW’s Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek
and Central Huron’s Reeve Jim Ginn
will receive much higher stipends in
2011, at $9,980, $9,254.19 and
$11,000 respectively. Huron East’s
Bernie MacLellan receives the
smallest stipend of $7,500 for the
upcoming term.
Meeting remuneration is what
brought Kelly’s pay from one of the
lowest to second highest in the area.
Councils also pay differently,
setting tiers of meeting pay with
some breaking it up by the length of
the meetings while others break it up
by purpose, paying different wages
for council meetings than committee
meetings.
Kelly, while receiving a $7,843.92
honorarium in 2009, attended 96
non-regular council-approved
meetings, netting her $13,859.88 for
the time spent there. Ignoring
compensation for mileage and
conventions, Kelly received
$21,703.80 for her time representing
Morris-Turnberry taxpayers in 2009.
North Huron’s Reeve Neil
Vincent, by comparison, received a
$9,980.20 stipend and attended 66
meetings for $5,360 – less than half
of Kelly’s meeting pay. Vincent
received $15,340.20 without
mileage and convention costs.
Central Huron’s outgoing reeve,
Bert Dykstra was the highest-paid
council head for 2009, receiving
$25,389.35 in wages ($11,399.47 in
honorarium and $13,989.88 in
council meeting recompense).
Huron East’s outgoing Mayor Joe
Seili received a $4,590 honourarium
and was paid $5,360.10 for
meetings, meaning his total wages
equalled $9,950.10. Huron East’s
costs are, on average, less per
council member because there are
five more seats in the municipality. Deputy-reeves and deputy-mayorsfollow the trend of reeves and
mayors. MacLellan, who was
deputy-mayor in 2010, was paid the
least of existing council members,
earning $8,619.66 for his
representation of Huron East
ratepayers without mileage and
expenses.
North Huron’s Murray Scott was
paid $11,599 in stipends and
meeting wages for his work in 2009,
Central Huron’s John Bezaire made
$14,138.10 before mileage and
expenses and Jim Nelemans of
Morris-Turnberry was paid the most
for his time in the previous term,
making $17,042.35.
On average, councillors from
Central Huron made $18,638.61 in
2009, including mileage and
conventions. North Huron, Morris-
Turnberry and Huron East
councillors made an average of
$11,876.36, $14,245.14 and
$7,719.05 in 2009 respectively.Entire councils are rankeddifferently in earnings, as some
councils have a different number of
members than others. For example,
Huron East, while having the largest
area council, costs ratepayers the
second least amount of money.
Central Huron had the most
expensive council in 2009, charging
$154,389.07 for representation,
Morris-Turnberry is the second with
$111,834.96, Huron East is third
with $109,188.18 and North Huron
council costs its constituents the
least, receiving only $87,699.38.
Councils treat conventions and
mileage different, making a direct
comparison impossible. Some
councils limit councillors to one
convention per year, like Morris-
Turnberry, while other councils, like
Central Huron, limit their
representatives to $3,000 per year
for conferences and related
expenses.
COMMEMORATE THE NEWEST
FAMILY MEMBER'S 1ST NEW YEAR
Join the gallery of faces in The Citizen's
baby photo display January 6, 2011
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birth date and parents' names, to be featured in The
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Please send picture (with name on back), along
with a cheque, to The Citizen prior to December 17.
Photos may be picked up after January 6.
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Birth Date_____________________________
Parents' Names________________________
$20.00 Enclosed
DEADLINE - December 17
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May 18
son of
Mike & Laura
Smith
B a b i e s o f t h e
Y ear 2010
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Deputy-Reeve Riach
David Riach, right, of Blyth Ward made the step up from councillor to deputy-reeve on Monday,
Dec. 6. Riach was unanimously approved of after being the only accepted nomination put
forward. Riach was administered his oath by North Huron Chief Administrative Officer Gary
Long (Denny Scott photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Read
Rhea Hamilton Seeger’s
Gardening column
on the
Huron Home and
Garden Guide
section of our website
www.northhuron.on.ca
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