By ROY WOOD
Oliver council will explore what other municipalities are doing before it reacts to a federal budget move that will see the tax exemption for one-third of their compensation eliminated.
Under federal law, federal, provincial and municipal elected officials have been entitled to pay no tax on up to one-third of their pay packets. The rationale has been that such a portion of their income might be used for job-related expenses.
But the 2017 federal budget paper proposes to eliminate the tax break starting in 2019. According to the budget paper: “This exemption is only available to certain provincial, territorial and municipal office holders, and provides an advantage that other Canadian do not enjoy.”
Mayor Ron Hovanes told fellow council members Tuesday that at a recent regional district meeting it was agreed that the federal government “is asking people around the table to work for less.”
He said the likely result is that stipends paid to municipal elected official would be raised to make up for the lost tax break.
Hovanes pointed out that the impact of the tax change will have much more impact on MPs and MLAs than on councillors and mayors.
The mayor’s annual stipend is $23,322 and councillors receive $14,289. Water councillors are paid $5,358.
By way of comparison, the basic salary for a BC MLA is $105,881 with the level rising with the addition of cabinet, committee and other responsibilities up to $201,174 for the premier. Federal MPs are paid $167,400 and the prime minister gets $334,800.
As council discussed how to react to the news, it was suggested that a letter to the federal finance minister might be appropriate. Councillor Larry Schwartzenberger said such a response would be “howling at the moon, in my opinion.”
In the end, council decided to find out what other local jurisdictions are doing and bring the matter back for discussion at a later meeting.
Oliver council typically addresses the remuneration issue toward the end of its mandate with any changes affecting the incoming members of council. The current term ends with the general election in October 2018.