Whitehorse city council has given a gift to its successors.
On Monday, councillors voted to give themselves a raise. The new salaries will take effect Nov. 1, after the municipal elections in October.
The next mayor’s salary will be $84,100 a year, up from $74,000. However, that salary now includes a $450-per-month vehicle allowance that used to be counted separately.
Councillors will also be given a $1,600 raise, bringing their renumeration up to $19,600 a year.
In 2009, city council gave itself the ability to hike its pay at the end of each three-year term to reflect changes in the consumer price index.
When the raise first came up for consideration last month, Coun. Ranj Pillai floated the idea of having that decision taken out of council’s hands and given to a citizen’s committee, but that didn’t come up again Monday night.
Something similar was tried once before, but unsuccessfully.
A few years ago, a consultant was hired to evaluate the pay of mayor and council.
The recommendation came back to raise councillors’ pay by $12,000, almost double what it was at the time. Councillors ultimately decided to give themselves a more modest $5,000 bump, raising their pay to $18,000. (Josh Kerr)