Victoria city council pauses plan to increase their pay

Councillorsin Victoria are pressingpauseon theirdecision to give themselves a pay raise.

Last month,first-time councillors Jeremy Caradonna and Matt Delltabled a motion to formally recognize council work as a full-time job and increase pay to 50 per cent of what Victoria's mayor makes. Council had commissioneda third-party studythat compared remuneration between 11 B.C. cities and seven cities in other parts of Canada.

Victoria MayorMarianne Alto currently earns $131,050, which meantcouncillors stoodto earn $65,525up from $52,420as early as May 1.

The motion passed in a 5-3 vote.

"Last couple of weeks, I have received 150 to 200 emails about the process by which we made the decision," Caradonnasaid during a Thursday council meeting.

WATCH | Councillors in 2 B.C. municipalities vote for pay raise:

Councillors in 2 B.C. municipalities vote for pay raise

6 months ago

Duration 1:14

Councillors in Victoria and Kelowna have voted to increase their base salaries.The majority argued municipal governance is a full-time job no matter the size of the city and increased pay is needed to meet demands and attract candidates. Our Chad Pawson breaks down what's happening.

Caradonna brought a new motion to the tableThursday callingforthe city manager to create an independent task force made up of leaders from non-profit, labour, government and business sectors.

The task forcewill review the consultant's report, interview councillors, and then make a recommendation by July on whether councillors should receive a raise and determine when any changes should beimplemented.

"I think it totally makes sense to push pause, pump the brakes," Dell said.

The last formalremuneration review in Victoria was in 2008. Councillors argued last monththat since that time the city hasgrown significantly and was facing increasingly difficult problems such as homelessness, street crime and mental health and addictions.

In supporting Thursday's vote, Coun. Krista Loughtonsaid she recognizedthe importance of paying the mayor and councillors appropriately, but expressed concern about having toapprove pay increases.

"This has been humiliating [to be forced to determine your own salaries] ... Engaging an independent task force is a good idea," Loughton said.

Kelownacitycouncil voted 53 last month in favour of increasing the mayor's base salary to $145,200 from $126,497.29 and councillors' pay from $42,991.14 to $58,080.A staff reportsaid the pay bumpwould bring Kelownain line with similar cities.