Rossland city council may give the next council a raise.
Mayor Kathy Moore says they have asked their staff to draft a policy that brings council pay more in line with communities with similar populations, to take effect starting next term. Municipal elections are scheduled for October.
Moore says Rossland’s pay scale, which sees the mayor earn about $19,000 per year and councillors $9,500 each is “notoriously low.”
“We’ll have them look at communities of similar size to see what compensation is for mayor and council and take an average,” says Moore, who does not plan to seek re-election.
She expects that the adjustment will result in the mayor making closer to $30,000 per year and councillors closer to $15,000, noting that often the mayor’s salary is double what the councillors earn.
“I’m hoping it will enable people who would like to run for council to do so,” she says. “Over the years we’ve had several really qualified councillors who love the work, but they say being a councillor takes time away from my other real job and I can’t give up that kind of income.”
Although Moore says there may be other ways to set the pay scale, she believes the population comparison is valid. “I think there is some correlation between the size of a municipality and the amount of work that is put in.”
