Council’s proposed 20 per cent pay bump raises eyebrows in RM of Springfield

The Rural Municipality of Springfield took the first step this week toward giving its council a 20 per cent pay increase.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/01/2019 (2206 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Rural Municipality of Springfield took the first step this week toward giving its council a 20 per cent pay increase.

The first reading of a bylaw hiking pay for the reeve and five councillors passed 5-1 at Tuesday’s meeting, after residents in the gallery voiced concerns about the size of the raise and the speed with which it was being introduced.

The base rate for councillors would increase to $36,000 from $30,000.

RM SPRINGFIELD 
Rural Municipality of Springfield council: Back row (Left to Right): Coun. Rick Wilson, Coun. Valerie Ralke, Coun. Howard Bredin. Front row (Left to Right): Coun. Glen Fuhl, Reeve Tiffany Fell, Coun. Peter Williams
RM SPRINGFIELD Rural Municipality of Springfield council: Back row (Left to Right): Coun. Rick Wilson, Coun. Valerie Ralke, Coun. Howard Bredin. Front row (Left to Right): Coun. Glen Fuhl, Reeve Tiffany Fell, Coun. Peter Williams

“Twenty per cent seems to be quite excessive,” said the first person to speak during a 15-minute question-and-answer session.

“What is the all-consuming rush to get this passed?” asked one woman. “I’d prefer to see more research and more discussion put into it.”

They shouldn’t have run for office if the compensation wasn’t adequate, said another resident.

“What has changed since you ran (in the October 2018 municipal election) that has now created a need for a 20 per cent increase in salary and compensation?” he asked in an official audio recording of the meeting.

What’s changed, officials said, are new Canada Revenue Agency rules coming into effect in 2019 on claiming home office expenses as a deduction.

At a Jan. 8 committee meeting, council asked administration to review the eligibility of employment expenses for a councillor’s home office and the overall impact of a 20 per cent pay increase to offset the loss of the deduction.

At Tuesday’s meeting, administration presented its report, after consulting with a municipal auditor.

“It would be difficult for a councillor to meet the CRA requirements to justify ‘home office expenses,'” the administration report said.

The proposed pay hike would cost the RM an approximate total of $48,500 (its councillors haven’t had a raise in eight years) — a 0.2 per cent increase to the municipal expenditure budget of $23.4 million, the administration report said.

During the meeting, Coun. Rick Wilson said he’s opposed to hiking councillors’ pay without first consulting with a tax accountant and other experts to check out the municipality’s options.

“There could be other things possible instead of reaching into the taxpayer’s pocket,” said Wilson, who urged the council to defer the vote until it had more information. “There could be some opportunities we could look at that would offset the CRA withdrawal of this non-taxable benefit.”

He said other municipalities across the country will be in a similar situation, and asked what kind of advice Springfield could get from the Association of Manitoba Municipalities and its ilk.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Reeve v. mayor

The Rural Municipality of Springfield wants to change the title of its top job to mayor.

In a 5-1 unrecorded vote at Tuesday’s council meeting, the name-change bylaw passed first reading.

Reeve Tiffany Fell said at the meeting most other capital region municipalities have made the switch to mayor from reeve, and Springfield following suit would be “consistent with neighbouring municipalities.”

The Rural Municipality of Springfield wants to change the title of its top job to mayor.

In a 5-1 unrecorded vote at Tuesday’s council meeting, the name-change bylaw passed first reading.

Reeve Tiffany Fell said at the meeting most other capital region municipalities have made the switch to mayor from reeve, and Springfield following suit would be “consistent with neighbouring municipalities.”

One council member voiced opposition.

“I think we should stick with term of ‘reeve’ for council,” said Coun. Rick Wilson. “I think it’s more of a unifying factor than the alternative — both from that point of view and from long usage in the RM. Reeve is an appropriate title for the head of council.”

Fell said other RMs have switched to the title of mayor for two reasons: “Businesses don’t know what a reeve is… and it is consistent with neighbouring municipalities.”

He said other municipalities across the country will be in a similar situation, and asked what kind of advice Springfield could get from the Association of Manitoba Municipalities and its ilk.

The AMM executive director said the Federation of Canadian Municipalities lobbied against the rule change announced in 2017 that reduced the one-third allowance councillors could claim for home office expenses. The federal lobbying efforts failed.

“It was brought in fairly quietly,” Joe Masi said Thursday, and it will start hitting people trying to make things better for others. “A lot of elected officials do a lot of good work for their communities.

“A hike in their pay is a way of adjusting for the one-third that was lost,” said Masi. “You’ve got to look at the whole picture.”

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities prepared a guide with options for dealing with the new tax rules, Masi said. The AMM distributed it to members some time ago. Now that it’s 2019, and the change is taking effect, municipalities have to deal with it.

“I think everyone knew it was coming,” said Masi.

Neither Springfield Reeve Tiffany Fell nor Wilson responded to a request for comment Thursday.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020.

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