The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) board of directors Jan. 10 unanimously agreed to direct regional chief financial officer (CFO) Holly Ronnquist to establish rates for a board remuneration bylaw and board travel and accommodation allowances policy, as recommended by an independent Board Remuneration Review Panel.

On October 4, 2019 the RDEK board directed that a board remuneration policy be prepared with recommendations from the CFO outlined in the September 25, 2019 report.

As directed by the board, the independent panel was established to review annual remuneration and meeting rates and travel and accommodation allowances for the RDEK Board for the period January 2020 to October 2022. The members of the committee were: Lee-Ann Crane, Cal McDougall, Mary Giuliano, Murray Floyd, Kathy Merkel and Wendy Booth.

The panel met on December 10, 2019. It reviewed a comparison of remuneration rates and travel and accommodation allowances paid by other regional and considered various options for adjusting RDEK rates.

The Board Remuneration Review Panel recommended that the RDEK board consider the following changes:

1. Increase all Director stipends by 2.5% in 2020 and to reflect BC CPI in 2021 and 2022.
2. Increase the Chair and Vice-Chair stipends by 2.5% in 2020 and to reflect BC CPI in 2021 and 2022.
3. Increase the Standing Committee meeting rate increase to $110 per meeting in 2020; $115 per meeting in 2021 and $120 per meeting in 2022.
4. Establish a new per meeting rate for Standing Committee Chairs at $25 in 2020, $35 in 2021 and $40 in 2022. This will be paid in addition to the Standing Committee meeting rate.
5. For meetings and events attended outside of the Kootenay Boundary area, increase the dinner allowance to $50 (currently $40) and increase the per diem to $110 (currently $100).

The policy will be presented to board in summer 2020.

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