After a presentation by a task force on November 14, Humboldt City Council asked their director of finance, Steve Brown, to review the suggestions of the Remuneration Task Force.
Brown presented his findings to council during the November 28 meeting, after Mayor Malcolm Eaton had left to attend a community event.
"The current council compensation equates to approximately two per cent of the total wages paid by the City of Humboldt," said Brown.
The mayor's salary at the time of the review was $16,600 and councillors' was $7,668. In the task force report, they suggested both salaries be increased - the mayor's to between $32,000 to $36,000 and councillors' to between $9,000 to $11,000.
Brown explained council had three options to discuss - they could maintain existing compensation levels, select amounts defined within the ranges brought forward by the task force or select an amount defined in the task force report as an hourly rate multiplied by the annual time commitment.
He also told council that the remuneration increase would not have much of an impact on the city's budget.
"If compensation is realigned to the minimum range of the task force report, it would increase the City's wage and benefit by .8 per cent," said Brown. "If the maximum was chosen, the city's wage and benefit expense would increase by 1.2 per cent."
After Brown presented his report, the councillors discussed their options.
"We should separate mayor and council salaries," said Coun. Phil Smith.
The other councillors agreed with him, saying that they were two separate decisions.
"I would prefer to see the new rate for councillors in place when a new council is in place after the election," said Coun. Rob Muench. "The mayor's salary should be addressed before the election."
All of the council members agreed that the mayor is underpaid for the work he puts in.
"He is severely underpaid," said Councillor Aaron Behiel. "Maybe five years ago (that salary) was acceptable, but it isn't anymore. He is forever running to different events... We definitely need to address his wage seriously."
The other council members agreed with Behiel.
"The task force may have underestimated how much time he spends," said Smith. "It may be higher."
They compared the salary options with other cities but said that was not right either, because they are only given the salary amount, not the amount of time other cities' mayors spend doing the job.
"A summary of how much other mayors get paid doesn't tell you how much time they spend doing the job," said Smith. "We are getting great value for the job."
They suggested the mayor's salary be increased to $34,000, which is the mid-range of the task force suggestion.
Next, the councillors discussed their own salary. All members felt their salary was good enough for this term and suggested it not be increased at this time.
"If someone is taking the position for the salary, they are taking the wrong job," said Behiel.
They decided to input an increase to $9,000 to the councillors' salary after the civic election in November 2012.
Council also discussed creating two funds - one for the mayor's use of his personal vehicle and the other a community relation fund - to pay for events mayor and council attend and need to buy tickets for.
"These are things the mayor is currently paying out of his own pocket," said Behiel.
It was decided that they would create a fund for both, each consisting of $100 a month, which would work out to a combined $2,400 a year.
