NIPAWIN – An increase to council remuneration was passed at the last Nipawin regular council meeting on Aug. 12.
CAO Michelle Sorenson said, “The last increase was in 2015, so this was a good time to do a full review.”
The proposed council remuneration would be $27,394 for the mayor and $13,697 for councillors, approximately a 6-7 per cent increase.
Remuneration rates will be included in the 2025 municipal budget. The Nipawin mayor would make 25 per cent of the current MLA’s salary as of April 1, 2024, which is $109,576. The previous remuneration was a set amount based on what other comparable municipalities paid at that time, and the number of meetings required Sorenson said.
"Since 2015, the Mayor’s remuneration has been $25,500 and Council’s was $13,000."
Nipawin council has set a policy that requires an ad-hoc remuneration review committee be established prior to each general municipal election to review and evaluate council remuneration rates. The committee consists of four members at large from the community. The committee met and reviewed the current policy. The committee considered a number of remuneration policies from similar-sized municipalities as well as the number of meetings council members are typically required to attend as part of their duties.
The policy was developed to conduct a fair and sufficient remuneration review and is intended to ensure that elected officials are compensated for their time and efforts it said in the recommendation. Council members were not on the committee, and did not know the identities of the volunteers, to maintain a fair, transparent process Sorenson said.
