An arms-length committee will be reviewing the compensation paid to the mayor and city councillors.
On Monday council will be asked to appoint David Yarmish, Anne Martin, Michael Kerr and Tom Madden to form a council remuneration advisory committee. The committee, which includes no current city councillors, will have until May 30 to prepare its recommendations.
"I'm going to come to this with an open mind - looking at what other communities are doing," Yarmish said. "It warrants a fair review and some discussion."
Yarmish is a human resources consultant and prominent local volunteer. The committee will have a challenging task ahead of them, he said.
"On one hand there is all these issues of money management. You can hardly open the paper without seeing a story about someone concerned with city spending," Yarmish said. "[But] you have to have a good package to get people people to perform. And we want the best people."
Martin, a community activist and former city councillor, said until the committee has its first meeting, it is too early to talk about the methodology they may use.
"[But] I'm quite sure we'll be comparing compensation to other communities of a similar size."
Kerr works with the National Research Council of Canada and is a part-time business management instructor at UNBC. He is also a past president of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce. He could not be reached for comment as of press time.
Madden is the former city manager of leisure services. He retired from city hall in 2009 after 18 years as a city official. He could not be reached as of press time.
In addition to council's pay, the committee has also been tasked with determining if mayor and council should receive allowances for use of their personal vehicles, cellphones and computers for city business.
Also on the table is the question of health, dental, life insurance and MSP benefits for councillors and the mayor, and if councillors should receive extra compensation for duties performed as acting mayor.
If council approves the committee's recommendations, they will not come into effect until sometime after the November municipal election.
