During the March 7 strategic initiatives standing committee meeting, councillors received a report outlining council salaries for 2021.
Mayor Brian Saunderson’s base salary for 2021 was $46,419, Deputy Mayor Keith Hull’s was $33,387, and each of the seven councillor’s base salaries was $26,767. These are up from $45,137, $32,062 and $25,421 respectively in 2020.
Neither the mayor, deputy mayor or councillors declared any travel expenses in 2021.
Professional development/discretionary spending for the deputy mayor and Coun. Steve Berman was nil in 2021.
Coun. Yvonne Hamlin had the highest at $2,376, followed by Coun. Deb Doherty with $1,832, Mayor Brian Saunderson with $1,495, Coun. Kathy Jeffery at $740, Coun. Mariane McLeod at $704, Coun. Tina Comi at $500 and Coun. Bob Madigan at $427.
Coun. Jeffery claimed $2,107 in expenses relating to her work on the Federation of Canadian Municipalities board of directors.
Coun. McLeod claimed $3,402 in spending and $58 in travel costs for her role as the Collingwood representative on the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority board, which is paid by the NVCA. The pay for her role consists of a per diem for meetings and a $2,500 annual honorarium for being chair.
As of 2020, the council remuneration report includes a separate column for special meeting pay.
In Collingwood, councillors are paid an hourly, half-day, or full-day rate for attending special meetings outside the normal council meeting schedule.
Mayor Saunderson, Berman, Hamlin, Jeffery and McLeod each made $980 for attending special meetings in 2021. Deputy Mayor Hull and Madigan made $840, while Doherty made $1,027. Coun. Comi made $700.
Special meeting pay was up in 2021 compared to 2020. In 2021, councillors, the mayor and deputy mayor were paid a combined total of $8,307 in special meeting pay, compared to $5,972.91 in 2020.
You can read the 2020 remuneration report here.
The 2021 remuneration report was received by the committee on Monday, and can be viewed here.