SASKATOON — In a bid to make running for council more attractive to a greater range of residents, RM of Corman Park councillors have approved an increase to their remuneration that will cost the municipality an additional $120,000 each year.
During their Jan. 28 meeting, council voted unanimously on a recommendation from the administration committee to raise the monthly base pay for the reeve to $2,500 and the base pay for councillors to $1,500, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025.
Previously, the base pay for the reeve and councillors had been set at $620 per month.
The rate for attending other meetings was also doubled from $62 to $124, while the compensation for committee chairs has gone up from $26 to $50.
According to an administration report, these changes will bring the reeve’s annual remuneration to an estimated $75,000 while councillors will receive $36,000 to $40,000.
Division 1 Councillor John Germs said he supported the change but admitted the increase in expenses made it a difficult choice.
“This is a tough one, no doubt about it,” he said.
Reeve Joe Hargrave pointed out that 86 per cent of municipal councillors running in the last election in Saskatchewan were acclaimed, including himself and Division 6 Councillor Steven Balzer.
“It is extremely difficult to get people (to run for council). That’s why we see in a lot of the rural municipalities that nobody is running against them,” he said.
“If we want to attract people to sit on council, we have to compensate them somewhat more reasonably than what was done in the past.”
Besides changing their base pay, council also voted unanimously to approve a five-cent increase to their mileage rate, bringing it up to 66 cents per kilometre, and a $35 increase to the 2025 meal per diem, raising it from $65 per day to $100 per day ($20 for breakfast, $30 for lunch and $40 for dinner).
In addition, council voted unanimously that councillors could opt into the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) extended health and dental benefits if they choose, and to increase the remuneration for committee chairs from $26 to $50.
OPTIONS PRESENTED
Finally, council also voted to direct administration to bring back an updated remuneration policy for council’s consideration based on the recommendations of the administration committee later this spring.
A proposal to change councillor remuneration had previously been presented at the administration committee meeting on January 14.
Chief administrative officer Kerry Hilts noted in his report that council must review remuneration on an annual basis, and the Municipalities Act prevents council from delegating this power to a committee or other council body.
Hilts indicated that when considering remuneration rates for council, Corman Park cannot be easily compared to other rural municipalities given its huge land mass, significant road structures, large population and mix of agricultural and industrial development.
As well, he noted that the RM has five urban municipalities within its borders, one of which is the province’s largest city, and they also have more staff than some RMs have ratepayers.
“It’s really hard for us to be compared to the typical RM,” he said.
While Corman Park has historically followed the remuneration considerations outlined by SARM, Hilts said they need to strike a new path forward, “one that recognizes the time and effort of being an elected official in a dynamic municipality.”
He also pointed out that council is primarily slanted towards “a more mature demographic with a secondary income,” which is not reflective of the whole RM.
Hilts presented council with five options for updating their remuneration, ranging from maintaining the status quo to introducing a $70,000 salary for the reeve and a $40,000 salary for each councillor without any remuneration for attending meetings.
However, one of administration’s preferred proposals was Option 3, which would raise the base pay for the reeve and councillors to $2,500 and $1,500 respectively. While various councillors expressed preferences for the different options, they all agreed Option 3 was likely the best way forward.
Administration had also recommended increasing the 2025 meal per diem to $100 per day to ensure councillors are not out of pocket for food costs, and to allow councillors to opt into SARM’s extended health and dental benefits, which would cost $37,205 for all nine councillors.
Division 4 Councillor David Greenwood said he believed the reeve’s role had become a full-time position, and while each councillor’s role was not at that level, their compensation was “certainly not reflective of what it would cost to go out into the workforce and engage someone.”
In the industry he worked in, he suggested the starting wage is now $40 per hour, and someone with his experience could receive as much as $100 to $150 per hour.
“I’m not saying I should be reimbursed for that, but I think that if you’re going to attract people … to become an elected official, it needs to have a reasonable wage to compensate people for their time,” he said.
Division 2 Councillor John Saleski said that a healthier community where residents were engaged would have multiple people running for a seat on council.
“If you want to have a healthy community and a healthy council and get people engaged, we shouldn’t see acclamations,” he said.
Division 8 Councillor Wendy Trask said everyone she has spoken to has indicated the RM could not pay them enough “to come here and put up with the crap some of us have to put up with, which happens more recently than not.”
