Mayor Olivia Chow reportedly earns $225,000 plus yearly and there are calls for pay raises.
With the City going broke and huge tax hikes to already stretched residents, Toronto Councillors are moving ahead with calls for a pay raise.
The matter of whether the Mayor, City councillors and their staff will get a pay raise will come up again at a Council meeting for consideration.
A report called Review of Councillor Remuneration is slated to be presented to Council at their meeting on March 26, 27 and 28.
Councillors earn more than $130,000 yearly and have been asking for an increase in pay and wages for office staff claiming they are overworked with meetings and work in the community. They claim their workload surged after the number of council seats were reduced from 44 to 25 in 2018.
City of Toronto councillors as Ward 3’s Amber Morley is reported to earn $130,000 plus yearly.
Council requested the City Clerk to report later this year on options to modernize their job descriptions, salary bands, and the compensation envelope for staff in Members’ offices.
Councillors last had their staff budget increased about three years ago.
“Toronto now has perhaps the most populous wards of any major city in North America and Europe,” according to City staff.
The study said there should be a review of Councillor compensation, which should be adjusted to that of their higher-paid counterparts, in addition to regular reviews.
It said that staff is seeking advice from a third-party consultant.
Some of our hard-working Councillors at Toronto City Hall.
Toronto city councillors currently earn an annual salary of $133,776.24, with their compensation level automatically indexed to inflation on a yearly basis. Mayor Olivia earns more than $225,300annually.
Members of Toronto City Council do not receive additional compensation for sitting on agencies, boards, commissions and corporations.
Councillors last year were allocated about $60,000 for their office budget, with a staff salary of $534,000 and with the Mayor’s Office having an operating budget of more than $3 million.