Deputy Mayor Allan Hunter said he asked City staff to prepare information about pension plans for mayors in other similar municipalities because it is “unreasonable to expect a mayor to serve for four years and not be concerned about pension. (It) is a disservice to the elected official and to the citizens that they serve.”
Head of Legislative Services Sharon Pollyck said staff were asked to look into the issue of a pension for the Mayor at the Nov. 17, 2014 council meeting.
“We went out and did a bunch of research and what we found was a community that offered a pension to the mayor, also offered that pension to city council as a whole,” she said. “The recommendation of staff is, whatever council decides to do, it’s extended to all elected officials.”
According to Pollyck, staff looked at the practice in 10 other communities, including Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Spruce Grove, St. Albert, and Rocky View County. These are the same municipalities used by the City when it determines city staff remuneration. A salary survey is done every two years for staff and at the start of each term for Council members.
The last time a pension was considered by Airdrie City council was in 2012, according to Pollyck, however council decided not to move ahead with implementing pensions for the Mayor or Aldermen.
“Five of the communities (studied) have a pension of some sort. Most often it’s a matching Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and for most it’s based on two thirds of council’s taxable salary,” Pollyck said.
Rocky View County provides the Reeve and Deputy Reeve with $1,500 annually towards an RRSP, according to Pollyck.
The average amount the municipalities pay as a matching RRSP contribution is 7.05 per cent, according to Pollyck, based on two thirds of taxable base salary.
Pollyck presented four options to council that included setting up a pension plan for the Mayor only commencing Jan. 1, 2015, at a cost of $3,995 annually, extending this to all of council at a cost of $10,904 annually, or maintaining the current situation with the benefit being reviewed again before the 2017 election.
“The recommendation of staff is that you implement the matching RRSP/Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) program in the amount of 7.05 per cent, which is the two thirds of base salary taxable, for all elected officials commencing Jan. 1, 2015,” Pollyck said. “If council were to do that, we’d also recommend an amendment to the operating budget to council benefits to include $10,904 to come out of corporate contingency.”
“My reasoning in bringing this forward was not to put anything on the table for this council,” Hunter said.
“The Mayor has served three (years) and now (he’ll serve another) four, and to go seven years without a pension is an unreasonable expectation for someone in a role as important and critical as this. I will support the recommendation for mayor but not for council.”
However, others on council did not agree with Hunter.
“We have a group that meets with representatives from business and staff, including our Chief Administrative Officer CAO, that makes a recommendation to the City council to vote on a salary adjustment or what they believe council deserves and council votes on that to be implemented for the next incoming council,” said Alderman Kelly Hegg. “Those people who choose to run know exactly what the compensation will be for those positions so I think we’re kind of over-stepping our bounds and circumventing a process we already have in place so I will not support this motion.”
Pollyck confirmed that although the CAO and City Clerk sit on the committee that meets to determine remuneration for the incoming council, they are non-voting members.
Hunter’s motion was defeated as he was the only one to vote in favour of implementing a pension for the Mayor at this time.
