For a moment there it was almost as if they were like the rest of us.
A couple of weeks back Delta council members voted themselves a raise, a rather substantial hike of 24 to 30 per cent, but one that could be justified for a pair of reasons. Firstly, thanks to recent changes to federal income tax laws, the one-third portion of civic politicians’ salaries that had been tax exempt is now taxable. Secondly, it’s been nearly four years since they last got a raise.
Throw in the fact that council salaries are a drop in the bucket in a $200-million-plus civic budget and that other local governments, including the Delta school board, have already adopted increases to offset the tax changes and you’ve got a raise that’s entirely warranted, right?
I can definitely see the rationale but I have to say that I still have some trouble with it. By eliminating the tax-free portion, it means current council members would take home less than their predecessors, which obviously isn’t ideal, but by having their remuneration fully taxable, it also means Ottawa would be treating them just like the rest of us.
Yet rather than choosing to be treated like all other wage earners, they decided to play the card they have at their disposal, the one that allows them to set their own wages and benefits. It’s the same card the previous council used to implement a golden handshake and then make it retroactive, a move so controversial this edition of Delta council scrapped it, but not before those lucky seven all got their money.
When faced with a hit to the bottom line, whether that’s an increase in taxes and fees or a loss of hours, I think most of us would dearly love the ability to top up our own paycheques so we’re not any worse off at the end of the month. Alas, we don’t have that kind of luxury.
To be fair, council members don’t make a ton, they have a great deal of responsibility and they put up with a lot of crap, so advocating for a reduction in their take home pay could well qualify as petty or mean-spirited, particularly as we enter the season of giving.
However, after the golden handshake debacle, you’d think our elected representatives might be a little more cognizant of the optics at play when you’re the one holding all the cards.
