Having a citizens' committee recommend remuneration for local politicians is a step in the right direction, but as we saw with the pay hikes at Port Coquitlam (PoCo) City Hall, another step is needed. To keep local politicians accountable to ratepayers, the provincial government must limit their ability to tax and spend by capping property tax rates.
The PoCo mayor and council recently gave themselves a big raise. The mayor's salary is up 27 per cent and council's salary is up a whopping 42 per cent. According to PoCo Mayor Greg Moore, this pay boost was OK because it was recommended by a citizens' committee.
Oh really?
The committee's March 2, 2009 report says that although "Council is worth more than the current compensation … [it did] not recommend a market adjustment at this time due to current economic conditions where unfortunately wage freezes, rollbacks and layoffs are common place (sic)."
So, do current economic conditions now justify a market adjustment for mayors and councils?
While the PoCo mayor and council, and some in other municipalities seem to think so, not all do. In 2010, the Burnaby mayor's pay goes up by 17 per cent, the Coquitlam mayor's by 4 per cent and the Vancouver mayor's (the highest paid in the Lower Mainland) by 3.8 per cent. However, in other municipalities, such as West Vancouver, Maple Ridge and Penticton, the mayors and councilors will take no pay hike in 2010 because of the -- wait for it -- current economic conditions!
So although some mayors and councilors curbed their salary increases in an economy that is still seeing wage freezes and layoffs, others showed no such restraint.
But the PoCo citizens' committee made another recommendation. According to the report, mayor and council pay should be adjusted by the consumer price index (CPI) starting January 1, 2010. According to the Statistics Canada December 2009 CPI report, the B.C. CPI was zero. So either way, the PoCo pay hike was not in line with the recommendations.
Still, some people say the pay hike in PoCo, although much bigger than many other municipalities, is no big deal -- it will cost the average homeowner the same as an expensive café latte - but don't be fooled. In PoCo, property tax and utility fee hikes will increase costs for the average homeowner by $140 dollars in 2010, and that's after a $170 increase in 2009. That's about 40 lattes per year. At this rate, in ten years, the average homeowner will be out about 400 lattes. Now that's a lot of lattes.
So what can be done to stop local politicians like those in PoCo from slowly decaffeinating ratepayers? Mayor and council pay hikes are a symptom of a much bigger problem -- the unlimited power to spend. To limit this power and bring accountability back to local government, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation recommends the provincial government cap property tax rates. In this system, the municipal government would know how much revenue to expect each year and it would then have to prioritize its spending. It would mean making spending choices instead of raising taxes and fees to cover off every spending whim. Citizens could then voice their opinion on those choices at election time.
You can learn more about how the property tax cap works at www.taxpayer.com.
However, getting the provincial government to help won't be easy. When asked about the big pay hike in POCO, the Minister of Community and Rural Development, Ben Stewart said, "If we were hearing as a government that it was a priority, we would have to make legislative changes and that isn't currently something I'm hearing about." So the provincial government will need a push to step up to the plate.
Yes, forming a citizens' committee to determine pay is a great idea, but ratepayers need some assurance that the mayors and councilors are doing more than just using committee recommendations as a cover for an unjustifiable pay hike. Without action from the provincial government -- without a property tax cap -- the picking of ratepayers' pockets will go on and on, year after year. It's time for that to change.
You can make your views known by contacting the Minister of Community and Rural Development, Ben Stewart, at 250-387-2283 or ben.stewart.mla@leg.bc.ca
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