Task Force: Big pay raise for councillors, no pay raise for mayor, and maybe severance pay

CTV News

7 days ago

The Council Resourcing Review Task Force (CRRTF) is leaning towards a substantial increase to councillors' base pay, but making no change to the model used to compensate the mayor.
And the four-member task force remains divided over the issue of providing severance pay to a politician when they exit their seat on council following an election loss or choosing not to run again.
The task force is awaiting data from Statistics Canada about full-time income in London, which will form the basis of their recommendation about council compensation, resourcing, and expenses.
Currently, councillors receive the median (50th percentile) full-time income in London as measured by Statistics Canada.
In 2025 that's equal to $67,420.
On Friday, task force members discussed paying councillors somewhere between the 65th and 75th percentile— an amount that could be in the ballpark of $90,000.
They'd receive an additional 4 per cent for chairing a standing committee, or an extra eight per cent if chosen to be the deputy mayor or budget chair.
'It's not a typical job, and so it probably shouldn't have a typical salary,' explained Task Force Chair Martin Horak after the meeting. 'A councillor in this city, with its $1 billion-plus budget, is a major responsibility. It's a complex, very demanding job. Councillors who do this job well are often working way over 40 hours a week.'
'With respect to mayoral pay, we think it's already there,' Horak added about the task force's decision not to discuss changing the mayor's compensation model.
The mayor's base pay in 2025 is $163,188.
The province added Strong Mayor Powers to the mayor's role this term.
Those additional responsibilities include preparing a draft municipal budget, propose by-laws, and appoint or dismiss the City Manager and other senior managers.
'In some ways, [Strong Mayor Powers] can lessen their workload because it makes them more able to make quick decisions,' argued Horak. 'There's less of that need when you're using your strong mayor powers to spend all the time working behind the scenes building coalitions.'
The question of compensating council members leaving their seat on council divided the task force.
Horak told colleagues that many similar cities offer severance pay, averaging about one month of pay for every year of service on council.
It's intended to smooth the transition back to regular employment after a period of public service.
Horak argued against the practice.
'I don't really think it's appropriate,' he told colleagues on the task force. 'It sort of smacks of paying you if you lose.'
He argued that London should continue to view a seat on council as a full-time role, not full-time employment, so traditional expectations of severance wouldn't apply.
Horak added he wouldn't be comfortable with former politicians, 'remaining on the public dime when you are not elected.'
In January 2024, council boosted the deputy mayor and budget chair positions by 12.5 per cent to recognize the additional workload.
Those positions each earn $75,847 this year.
Total benefits collected by each councillor add more than $20,000 annually to each member's compensation, including the option of receiving a vehicle allowance/reimbursement (up to $2,124).
Councillors were also reimbursed for eligible expenses up to a maximum $13,500 in 2025.
Fees to attend certain municipal conferences were also paid by city hall.
The task force expects to have the StatsCan data in time for its next meeting in September.