City To Review Councillors’ Salaries
This is a release from the City of Ottawa:
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Subject / Objet Update on Council Budget, Staffing, and Compensation Review
Date: May 10, 2024
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide an update to Members of Council on Motion No. 2022-03/29 with respect to the third-party review of the funding allocation for Members’ Constituency Services Budgets, pay scales and job descriptions for Councillors’ Assistants, and remuneration for Members of Council.
Background
During consideration of the 2022-2026 Council Governance Review report on December 7, 2022, City Council approved Motion No. 2022-03/29, as follows:
WHEREAS each Member of Council is provided with a Constituency Services Budget with which to operate their respective office, in accordance with the requirements of the Council Expense Policy and the Councillors’ Office Manual; and
WHEREAS the Constituency Services Budget is a global budget that covers Members’ staff compensation and non-compensation items such as community events, communications, donations and sponsorships, hospitality, and office supplies; and
WHEREAS the only increase to Members’ global Constituency Services Budgets is the annual cost of living adjustment (applied to the compensation portion of the budget only); and
WHEREAS the Councillors’ Office Manual was recently reviewed and updated for the first time since 2005 to incorporate updated policies and guidelines, enhanced office management processes and procedures, and improvements to the recruitment and hiring processes for Councillors’ Assistants approved by Council in July 2020; and
WHEREAS recent reviews have not included an examination of Members’ remuneration and budget allocation to ensure that Members have the support required to meet the demands placed on their offices and that compensation for
Members and their staff is keeping pace relative to the organization and other peer groups;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Council direct the Office of the City Clerk to retain an independent third-party, funded from the Council Administration Services Budget, to conduct a review of the funding allocation for Members’ Constituency Services Budgets, the pay scales and job descriptions for Councillors’ Assistants, and remuneration for Members of Council; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that recommendations further to that independent third-party review be included as part of the 2022-2026 Mid-term Governance Review.
Members will note that this work is taking place in the broader context of the 2022-2026 Mid-Term Governance Review, anticipated to be considered in Q4 of 2024.
Next Steps
Further to Council’s direction, the Office of the City Clerk has retained the services of MNP Business Consulting and Advisory Services LLP (MNP) to complete a review of the following matters:
1. The funding allocation for the Constituency Services Budgets of Members of Council; 2. Pay scales and job descriptions for Councillors’ Assistants and Members staff; and 3. Remuneration for Members of Council (Mayor and Councillors).
MNP will be conducting a comprehensive, independent third-party review of existing internal documentation, including budgets, pay scales, and job descriptions.
Additionally, MNP will conduct a custom market survey assessment to benchmark salaries and responsibilities for Members of Council against those of comparable municipalities across Canada. This will allow MNP to make a fair market comparison and assess the City of Ottawa’s competitiveness.
Members should anticipate being contacted by MNP representatives Melanie Fix and Daniel Kasun in the coming weeks to arrange individual interviews. Interviews will be conducted virtually and will be scheduled for 60 minutes throughout late May and early June and will provide Members with an opportunity to speak to all three objectives, as described above.
For Members’ awareness, Councillors’ Assistants and Members staff will be engaged separately on matters directly affecting them via an anonymous survey. This engagement opportunity is anticipated to occur in early summer 2024 and details will be provided once they have been finalized.
Finally, Members will receive a memorandum in the coming days with respect to the consultation process for the 2022-2026 Mid-term Governance Review report. While the above-noted MNP report and recommendations will form part of the Governance Review, Members will be consulted separately on a range of other governance-related matters.
Please feel welcome to contact Kiel Anderson or Danyelle Belanger with any questions about this Review.
Caitlin Salter-MacDonald
City Clerk
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They are ALL OVERPAID for the job they do, I expect salary CUTS to all of council and the Mayor for being such POOR administrators of the city and it’s finances. Will this happen? Likely not since the hand which is doing the examination is also the one being fed!
@Bruce
You’re not wrong, but perhaps the thinking is that increasing the remuneration will attract better people.
But … who in their right mind would ever want to put “_________________ for the City of Ottawa” on their CV?
Increasing salary is similar to giving a bonus for doing it wrong or not at all! This would be in keeping with government practices of the day.. The trough is EMPTY!
No one in elected office at any level should be voting on their own salary increases.any voted in salary increases should start AFTER THE NEXT ELECTION.
FOR THE CRAZY IDEAS PUT FORTH, FOR THE MONEY WASTED, FOR THE GENERALLy POOR JOB MOST POLITITIANS DO, …..IT IS BAD ENOUGH NOW THAT THEY ARE NOT HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ERRORS AND USUALLY SKIP OFF SCOT FREE…,VOTING ON THEIR OWN PAY INCREASES SHOULD BE A NON STARTER.
And how much is this process going to cost? Previously, councillors’ salaries and budgets were reviewed by small panels made up of residents with various kinds of relevant expertise. Their remuneration consisted of reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses.
I see no mention here of any consultation process for residents who are, after all, the ones paying these salaries and expenses.
Will this consulting firm be looking at value-for-money when considering councillors’ salaries or just doing a comparison to what other cities pay their elected officials? If a councillor in City X is working for their constituents and producing positive results, where’s the justification for giving a similar salary to Ottawa councillors? If they did a results-based analysis of the work of certain of our councillors, the outcome might be that they owe us money, not the other way around.
The Voter:
Maybe the consultant will want to get hired again.
cheers
kgray
What about tying pay increases for councillors and their staff to the average increase given to city employees across the board? They’re always trying to hold the line and not raise staff salaries by much. The exact same principles should apply to them.
The other possibility is tying them to something like the Consumer Price Increase which is a statistically-derived figure that is externally created.
Either of these would take the decision out of their hands and become an automatic process.
It’s not possible to do a comparative study measuring their remuneration against that of councillors in other municipalities. The job of a councillor differs greatly between communities and different places have differing legislative responsibilities. You’re comparing apples and oranges.