A pay raise has been approved for members of Essex County Council.
During Wednesday's meeting, council voted in favour of a new updated compensation scale that includes raises in an effort to remain competitive and correspond with the level of work and responsibility involved.
The increase was recommended after ML Consulting was engaged in January 2024 to undertake an independent review and market study of council remuneration and found that base pay remuneration for the deputy warden and councillors was well below the competitive pay market.
As a result of the approval, the base rate of pay for the warden will increase to $92,987 in 2024 from $92,896.86 in 2023.
The deputy warden's base pay will rise to $40,938 in 2024 from $16,163.54 in 2023, an increase of $24,775.
Members of county council would see their base pay increase to $31,302 compared to $13,211.65 in 2023, an increase of $18,091.
Warden Hilda MacDonald, who's also mayor of Leamington, says it seems like a large increase, but county council has been underpaid for a long time.
"You need to pay people what they're worth; that's what it boils down to: there's value in people sitting at that table. If you don't make it worth people's while, there will be hesitancy to come to that table," he says.
Four councillors voted against the increase: Amherstburg Mayor Michael Prue, Amherstburg Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb, LaSalle Deputy Mayor Mike Akpata, and Lakeshore Deputy Mayor Kirk Walstedt.
Akpata says he was torn on this issue.
"I understand that the time we put in doesn't equate to the coin in the jar, but, my however is, I've done more for less, and I've been happy," he says.
MacDonald says you don't realize until you're at the table how much work there is, and people need to be paid what they're worth.
"This is based on data; this is not based on the whim of council or an extravagant council. This is all based on data and done by a third party," she says. "I think it was time to be done because the councils of the past didn't have the appetite or courage to do it."
The increase is retroactive to January 1, 2024, which will generate a budget shortfall of $292,056.
As a result, council approved drawing funds from the Rate Stabilization Reserve to fund the deficit in 2024.
Amherstburg Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb says this job takes more time than people understand, but he couldn't support the increase at this time.
"For the sake of working together, I could look at some sort of stepped-up model over the next couple of years. But to me, I just cannot justify pulling this kind of money out of reserves to pay for an operational expense," he says.
MacDonald says she believes the people are worth the money; maybe more, given the sacrifices they make to serve.
"Not even just the time, but the scrutiny of the public is not easy. So to me, we need to pay people what they are worth," she says. "And I'll say to anybody else: Would you work for 50 cents an hour at a part-time job? It doesn't matter if you love it or not; would you do it for what would amount to 50 cents an hour."
Council also agreed that an independent market study of the pay scale be performed once every four years to coincide with each term of council.