City of Cranbrook council May 27 agreed to a city finance department recommendation of an increase in council and mayor remuneration to compensate for lost earnings from a recent federal government change concerning personal income tax exemptions.

Ottawa eliminated the one-third tax-free exemption for municipal officials effective January 1. Prior to the elimination of the exemption, one-third of remuneration paid to elected officials was exempt from personal income tax.

The change will mean that members of council will pay more in personal income taxes for 2019 and thereafter.

Mayor and Councillor Indemnity Bylaw No. 3546, 2006, calls for annual increases to the indemnity equal to the BC Consumer Price index as reported by BC Stats in December of the preceding year.

The City of Cranbrook remuneration figures presented reflect a 2.7% increase over 2018 based on December 2018 BC Stats data.

In order to ensure that Cranbrook’s council remuneration remains competitive, city staff is recommending that council approve an increase of 12% to the 2019 base compensation levels.

Council Monday passed the first three readings of Mayor and Councillor Indemnity Bylaw No. 3973, 2019, which resets the annual indemnity paid to the mayor and councillors, removes the reference to the 33.33% allowance, and retains the language relating to annual increases based on information reported by BC Stats.

The adjusted compensation will mean the mayor will earn $65,000 a year, up from $58,082 and councillors will earn $23,700, up from $21,176.

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