Changes could be coming on how – and possibly how much – directors at the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) are paid.
Roberts Creek director Mark Lebbell put his concerns about “director sustainability” on the table during a discussion of the regional district’s strategic plan at the Feb. 23 corporate and administrative services committee meeting.
Lebbell introduced a motion calling for SCRD staff to draft a report on possible approaches to a review of director compensation – with any changes that come out of that process to take force after the 2018 election.
“This not a ‘woe-is-me’ motion,” he said. “We come to this role with our heads up and our hearts open, and it’s clearly an honour and privilege to serve … It has to do with the democratization of this role, and the diversification of representation in our community, and making this role accessible to a broader range of the population.”
Lebbell also said the current SCRD board is in a unique position when it comes to reviewing compensation, in part because it’s the first to serve under the new four-year terms.
SCRD chair, and Halfmoon Bay director, Garry Nohr agreed that the four-year term is putting workload issues for elected officials in a fresh light.
“The work required for any elected official is not a part-time job anymore. There’s no way you can say that,” said Nohr, who has already announced that he won’t be running again.
“I keep hearing all the time we need more young people. Sometimes I consider that an ageist comment, but at the same time I think it’s right. And to be able to do that you have to make it so they can afford to do the job … It’s not whiny, it’s being very straightforward.”
Jeremy Valeriote, the director for Gibsons, supported the idea of a review. “I think this is a valuable and healthy discussion to have,” he said.
Lebbell said his approach is that “people who want to be in this role should be able to be in this role.”
Pay for SCRD directors is more complex than the flat rate typically paid to municipal elected officials. For 2017, the base pay for the chair is $36,383.12 and for the vice chair it’s $11,350.71. The base rate for directors is $9,107.03 (with a $1,304.25 supplement for rural area directors). They’re paid an additional $9,107.03 if they’re the chair or vice-chair of a standing committee, which most are. Directors are also paid $121.68 per meeting attended.
For tax purposes, one-third of the total pay is reported as a non-taxable expense allowance, and the pay is adjusted each year to reflect the change in the Consumer Price Index.
Remuneration for elected officials is reported in a statement of financial information (SOFI) that local governments submit every year. The most recent are for 2015. They show that in the SCRD, rural area directors were paid between $31,300 and $38,112. The chair was paid $50,046 and the vice chair $38,112. Because of a realignment of departments and committees, there were about a dozen fewer SCRD meetings last year.
“We’ve made some strides in efficiency here in terms of number of meetings and length of meetings and amount of staff overtime. Ironically those have had an impact on director remuneration,” Lebbell noted during the committee discussions.
Although Lebbell said at the meeting that his 2016 T4 “doesn’t reach the $20,000 level,” that figure did not seem to take into account the tax-free portion of the 2016 directors’ remuneration.
In Gibsons, remuneration for the mayor was $31,603 and councillors were paid from $15,658 to $16,889, while in Sechelt the mayor’s pay was $42,145.12 and pay for councillors ranged from $18,559.84 to $25,009.30. Sechelt and Gibsons councillors who served on the SCRD board were also paid as directors under the SCRD formula.
The 2016 SOFIs will be released later this year.
