When it came to the $63.6 million budget voted in by council Monday night, the most talked about item of that was $35,000. Council voted in favour of topping up mayor and council's salaries to compensate for the federal change that results in one-third of elected officials' salaries no longer being tax exempt. Councillors also receive compensation for travel and other work-related expenses. The result is the same take-home pay for mayor and council. Couns. Morgan Nagel and Pat Wilson voted against the salary top-up. "My frustration has been that we continue to impose tax increases in a concerning, dim economic climate," said Wilson, who went on to give notice of motion to restructure how voting the budget is done in future years. Nagel failed to get traction on his motion to hold off on the decision until the remuneration committee comes forward next year, with the exception of cost of living adjustments (COLA), and has maintained his opposition from the start. Coun. Marni Fedeyko initially offered to give up her share of the increase, amounting to a net $2,402.60, to offset the impact not approving the boost would have on the mayor's salary. As the only full-time employee of the roster of seven, the result would have been a take-home reduction of $13,000 for Genung. Fedeyko opted instead to donate her share to charity. "I will break the lump sum into 12 months and pick charities that benefit the Cochrane area," she said, adding that she will announce the recipients on her Facebook page. She added that the potential impact on the mayor could be costly on the residents. "I think cit ould be a detrimental downfall to what kind of leadership I think our community expects and wants to see," she said, adding that she would like to see the remuneration committee look at the entire pay structure of council. Town council does not currently receive per diem pay for meetings or events. While council waffled on whether or not to hold off until the mid-term remuneration committee makes its recommendations next year, councillors settled on approving the salary increase, largely because that is how other municipalities across the country are dealing with the issue and because the last remuneration committee flagged councillor salaries as already being behind the provincial average. "The biggest disappointment in all of it is that council spent more time talking about $35,000 than any other item in the budget," said Genung, who has faced significant backlash on social media regarding the salary top up including a couple of Facebook groups that have gained little traction to date – "Fire Jeff Genung, Mayor of Cochrane" and "Jeff Genung Must Go". Wage disparity Genung, Couns. Susan Flowers and Tara McFadden maintain that to further reduce their pay would put them even further behind comparable municipalities. Okotoks town councillors earn $38,213, with the mayor earning $77,661. According to the 2018 census, its population is 29,0002. Cochrane town councillors earn $28,501 and the mayor's salary is $84,671. According to the 2018 census, Cochrane's population is 27,960. Spruce Grove with a population of 34,881 according to their census, has its town councillors earning $40,664 and the mayor earns $91,300. Of the above, all mayors are full-time and all councillors are part-time. Many communities in Alberta are opting to top up salaries to compensate for the loss of the tax exemption, including the likes Airdrie, Olds, Sylvan Lake and Red Deer. According to Jaylene Knight, manager of legislative services for the town, the remuneration task force committee identified a significant wage gap for town councillors as part of their 2016/17 review. Their report revealed that Cochrane councillors were earning, on average, 10 per cent less than comparably-sized municipalities in the province. While a phased-in approach of increasing salaries 2.5 per cent year for four years was voted in at that time, it is believed that now is the time to open up a full review of how remuneration is calculated – given the tax exemption clawback, as well as the added work on councillors respective of the town's growth.
