A comparison of wages among four Alberta councils left Black Diamond’s wondering if it’s time for a pay increase.
Black Diamond Town council recently learned its mayor and councillors are among the lowest paid after having administration compare wages with three similar-sized Alberta communities. Council will be bringing the issue up for discussion at its annual retreat this weekend.
Administration presented council with a chart at its Jan. 7 regular council meeting comparing what the mayor, deputy mayor and one unnamed councillor earn in Turner Valley, Sexsmith, Penhold and Sundre.
The numbers caught council by surprise.
“I had to pick my chin up off the floor when I was looking at the survey,” said coun. Judy Thomson. “How did we get so far behind in this?”
The numbers reveal the unnamed Black Diamond councillor is paid $13,925 annually - $25 more than the Sexsmith councillor at the lowest end of the scale and $4,325 less than the Turner Valley councillor at the high end.
The mayors’ numbers put Black Diamond’s Sharlene Brown salary at $14,055 annually, compared to Sexsmith’s mayor at $11,250 at the lowest and Sundre’s mayor at $29,737.22 at the highest. The chart showed Turner Valley mayor Kelly Tuck’s pay as $23,100.
“It’s grossly unfair,” said Thomson. “When you attend the same meetings and their mayor is making $700 a month more than our mayor, I’m sorry, that is embarrassing as far as I’m concerned for this town.
“Those councillors are making $300 a month more and we do the same job.”
Thomson said she would like to see wage increases for Black Diamond council, considering it’s been 10 years since the last pay increase with the exception of adjustments to council’s per diems.
“I think our mayor should be getting $1,200 a month (currently $915) and I think council and the deputy mayor should be getting $900 a month (currently $700),” she said.
Mayor Sharlene Brown told council the reason the wages haven’t changed in so many years is it’s often low on the priority list.
“When it comes to budget time and we have the conversation we are concerned about our taxpayers and that’s why we continue to be so low,” she said.
Coun. Michel Jackson said the mayor’s compensation should fall more evenly between the lowest and highest paid in the comparison chart, and added concerns that Black Diamond’s councillors are paid about $5,000 less annually than Turner Valley’s.
Deputy mayor Jackie Stickel said she doesn’t agree with guiding their own wages based on their neighbour’s, but that she is open to discussing the rates.
“We are here because we want to be here, not because it’s a paying job,” she said. “I think our mayor deserves a bigger kick than the rest of us because the mayor is the primary in-the-eye person and the expectation of that job is quite a lot stronger than most of us councillors.”
Coun. Jim Deacon said he agrees Brown should see a wage increase.
“I don’t have a problem with what we get, but I think the mayor is low compared to most other municipalities,” he said. “I’d like to see it go to the retreat to discuss it a little more.”
