Renfrew County Councillors have voted to give themselves a large raise, but there’s a catch, they still have to get re-elected.
An elected officials market review was presented during a special meeting of County Council on March 23rd, 2022. Information presented shows the Warden in Renfrew County makes $62,544, which is more than the median Warden salary across Ontario at $51,387. Renfrew County Councillors currently make well below the middle of the market in Ontario at $14,283. The median county councillor salary in Ontario is $20,825.
County councillors voted to increase their remuneration to $20,825 over the next four years. That’s a pay increase of 45.8 percent into 2026 and would not be inclusive of any cost of living adjustment. The salary for the Warden for the County of Renfrew will remain unchanged.
Staff have been directed to implement the changes as part of the 2023 budget preparations. Council is also directing County of Renfrew staff to create a pay policy to align with the one in place for non-union employees. An implementation plan will be presented to council before the budget is prepared.
Chairs of standing committees make $2,142 and $700 for other committees they sit on. Members of County of Renfrew Ad-hoc committees and committee vice-chairs make $243. No changes were recommended for the pay structure for committee chairs, vice-chair and ad-hoc committee members.
With changes proposed for 2023 and a municipal election in the fall of 2022, elected officials will need to secure the votes of local taxpayers if they want to cash in on the large raise.
(written by: Rudy Kadlec)
