City council is expected to launch a review of its own wages and benefits on Monday.
The wages, benefits and expense accounts provided to the mayor and city councillors are currently determined by the Council Remuneration Policy which was put in place in January, 2010. The basis of the policy goes back to bylaws dating from 1999 which set a base salary for the mayor and council, with an annual cost of living increase based on public sector wage data released by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
In 2011 they will get a two per cent increase, bringing the mayor's salary to $92,787.89 and the councillors' stipend to $23,888.22. The total 2011 budget for council's salary and benefits is $387,964, up from $381,392 in 2010.
In addition, each councillor is budgeted $6,000 for expenses such as travel related to their work on behalf of the city. Approximately $30,500 is budgeted for the mayor's expenses and $19,500 for council committee expenses.
The budgeted expense amounts remained virtually unchanged between 2010 and 2011.
In 2010 coun. Cameron Stolz spent $8,679, coun. Murry Krause spent $7,059, coun. Dave Wilbur spent $6,548, coun. Garth Frizzell spent $5,098, coun. Don Bassermann spent $5,077, coun. Shari Green spent $2,915, coun. Debora Munoz spent $2,839 and coun. Brian Skakun spent $1,647.
In 2010, council's committees spent $12,343 of their $19,500 expense budget and the mayor's expenses came in $8,643 under budget.
In total, mayor and council spent $23,938 less than budgeted on expenses in 2010.
One of the key questions the council remuneration committee will be asked to answer is if council's salary and benefits are reasonable and how they compare to other similar municipalities.
The City of Kamloops council remuneration policy was last updated in June, 2008. The policy set the salary for the mayor at $68,622.32, effective Jan. 1, 2007. Each year, starting in 2008, the mayor's salary increases by the Statistics Canada consumer price index for Vancouver.
For 2011 the mayor of Kamloops' salary is $73,467.94. In Kamloops, councillors' salaries are set each year to one third of the mayor's salary - $24,489.31 in 2011.
In addition, the Kamloops mayor and councillors receive a $75 per month communication allowance for cellphones and other communications.
The Kamloops mayor and councillors are restricted to $5,000 per year in expenses without council approval, however an exception is allowed for travel in Canada to discuss business opportunities or meet with government officials.
The Kamloops mayor and councillors are permitted to claim expenses for overseas travel up to once each per three-year term.
The mayor of Kamloops can take an optional benefits plan comparable to a city management employee and the mayor and all councillors are entitled to basic disability insurance.
The City of Kelowna is also conducting a review of its council remuneration policy this year. It's current policy was put in place in 2008, which set a base salary of $87,823 for the mayor - to be increased every year by a percentage equal to the Statistics Canada consumer price index for Vancouver.
In 2011, the mayor of Kelowna will be paid $89,660.08. Compensation for Kelowna city councillors is set at 35 per cent of the mayor's compensation - $31,381.02 in 2011.
