A suggestion in a letter to the editor published Feb. 28, that Yorkton Council is receiving a 7.38 per cent raise this year is incorrect says Yorkton Mayor Bob Maloney.
Maloney explained that the Mayor and Councillors actually took a 3.5 per cent rollback in remuneration in 2017, because their rates are tied to that of members of the legislature in Saskatchewan, and the province implemented a decrease.
“We have no say in whether it goes up or down,” he said.
It was in September of 2012, “Council directed Administration to select five members from the business community who would be willing to serve on a Council Remuneration Committee. The purpose of establishing a Council Remuneration Committee was to take away the process from Council in determining remuneration and to determine a process that is transparent, accountable and fair,” explained a Yorkton This Week story from April 10, 2013.
The five member committee made several recommendations.
In terms of the Mayor’s salary the Committee recommended the City set the Mayor’s remuneration at 75 per cent of the annual salary for a Saskatchewan MLA.
The base salary for an MLA is $96,183.
Councillor salaries are tied to the Mayor’s.
“Out of the Saskatchewan cities surveyed Councillor’s salaries were based on 30 - 35 per cent of the Mayor’s. In the past this has been set at 30 per cent for Yorkton Councillor’s. The committee in 2012 recommended the percentage stay the same.
It was in April last year Legislation passed to cut the salaries of politicians in Saskatchewan.
The 3.5 per cent cut passed retroactive and deemed to have been in force on April 1, of last year.
There has been no official announcement from the province regarding the fate of the 3.5 per cent wage for MLAs, although the broader 3.5-per-cent public-sector wage rollback, which was proposed in the 2017 provincial budget was ultimately never met due to union pushback and the reduction was suspended for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
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