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Politicians’ pay could drop

The newly-proposed remuneration for elected officials could save the Columbia Shuswap Regional District some money
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Paul Demenok

The newly-proposed remuneration for elected officials could save the Columbia Shuswap Regional District some money.

The remuneration plan was presented to the CSRD Board of Directors Thursday, Sept. 15, outlining payment for board meeting attendance, travel to attend meetings, and other requirements of directors’ time.

Kathy Sainas, of Sainas Consult Inc. presented the data, saying the project was conducted to address concerns with the current director remuneration bylaw.

“The chair is going to see the biggest change,” said Sainas.

Payment for the chair position was greater than the average found in other districts in 2015, at $54,152 compared to the average of $39,427.

However, it was noted that three of the nine regional district chairs used in the comparison were municipal directors, which has an effect on the average.

If a full discretionary meeting budget were used and all board meetings attended, an electoral area director would receive between $25,000 to $30,400 (In 2015, the average was $26,408), a municipal director would earn between $14,100 to $15,300 (in 2015, it was averaged $13,885), and the chair would pocket an estimated $41,455, while in 2015 it was $54,152.

The total cost to CSRD would be around $243,000, in 2015 it was $254,000.

“When you compare the CSRD’s total remuneration… the CSRD is quite competitive with the market, close to the median. CSRD is kind of in the middle of the market on most of these variables,” said Sainas.

Municipal directors would receive $200 per meeting based on 14 board and budget meetings, while electoral directors would receive $250 based on an 18 board, electoral area director and budget meetings. If the directors do not attend, the money will be deducted.

Travel cost to and from meetings was another issue discussed.

The proposed remuneration supplements $15 an hour for travel to and from regularly scheduled board meetings, workshops and unspecified conferences instead of the pay-per-kilometre allowance.

“Travel arrangements vary widely. There are as many remuneration models as there are regional districts,” said Sainas.

Electoral area members A, C and F would earn a fixed salary of $21,500 -- $3,000 more than Areas B, D and E under the proposal based on size of the population, said chief administrative officer, Charles Hamilton.

Director Rene Talbot, of Electoral Area D, which includes Silver Creek/Salmon Valley, Falkland, Ranchero and Seep Creek, stated concerns over who receives more, says he had the second largest electoral area.

“We looked at ways of recognizing, based on the concerns of the director, is there their areas have significantly more work than the some of the other areas and how do we recognize that,” said Jodi Pierce, manager of financial services for the CSRD.

Director Paul Demenok said the information seemed misleading when comparing CSRD directors to other regional districts.

“Meeting attendance affects this, so it’s really based on the activity of the director,” he said.

“It’s based on activity and the amount of work that’s actually done,” said Sainas.

Further discussion of the remuneration will be continued at CSRD’s next meeting, Oct. 20.