When Cornwall’s City Council met on August 27, 2024, they discussed and debated the Council Compensation Review, focusing on potential salary adjustments for members and the inclusion of health benefits.
As of 2022, the annual salary for a Cornwall City Councillor is $22,001.20, while the Mayor’s annual salary is $59,220.72. The Mayor also receives additional compensation as a member of the Cornwall Police Services Board, a monthly car allowance, and various benefits, including dental, long-term disability, and life insurance. Councillors, however, currently receive no benefits.
The Council voted unanimously to approve a recommendation that aligns the base pay for Council members with the annual increases given to non-union city employees. This decision means an adjustment of 2% for 2023 and 2024 and 3% for 2025 and 2026.
Councillor Sarah Good proposed a motion suggesting that the potential funds allocated for council members’ benefits be distributed as an increase in their salaries instead. Good’s motion recommended that each councillor receive an additional $4,000, while the Mayor’s salary would increase by approximately $7,000. She argued that this would bring their compensation closer to, but still below, the average for similar-sized municipalities.
“Our current salary is $22,001, and the mayor’s salary is around $59,000. So (based on similar-sized municipalities), we rank out of12 … we rank ninth lowest in terms of pay on both mayor and council salaries. Our budget is the third highest, and our population is right in the middle, sixth highest,” Good explained. “The average remuneration for all those municipalities is $29,000, and the median is $25,000 for councilors. For the Mayor, an average of $73,900, and a median of $72,300. We are several thousand below that base pay,” Good added. This was based on current numbers from several municipalities provided by the Acting General Manager, Matt Stephenson, and additional figures from a 2018 report previously presented to Council.
Councillor Elaine MacDonald supported Good’s motion, stating, “There’s no question in my mind that the base pay has to go up because $22,000 is just not adequate, probably not minimum wage for the work we do and the hours we spend. This is a real job; it’s not just a ceremonial thing … this is real work we do, and it should be compensated.”
Councillor Carilyne Hébert supported the proposed pay increase, highlighting her financial challenges as a council member without benefits. “I’m probably one of the few around the table that does not have benefits and also has a chronic condition and pays everything out-of-pocket,” she said, noting that the potential benefits package would not adequately address those needs.
However, not all councillors agreed with the proposed pay hike. Mayor Justin Towndale, Councillor Todd Bennett, and Councillor Maurice Dupelle voted against the increase. While Mayor Towndale expressed his reservations about the significant increase in his own salary, stating, “What I struggle with in this motion is the amount allocated towards my personal salary as mayor because I see that as a substantial increase. I make not as much as my comparators, but I personally think I’m doing OK, so I just, I have a hard time … I can’t support this based on that,” he did acknowledge that councillors deserve a raise, saying, “I do think you around the table deserve more money in terms of the work you put in because youhave done a lot of work this term.”
Despite this, other councillors stood up for the Mayor’s raise, highlighting the importance of fair compensation for all members of the council. Councillor Syd Gardiner urged the Mayor to accept the raise, saying, “Every time I come in, look for my mail or talk to you, you’re always here. I’ve been to different celebrations all over the city, and you’re there, so you deserve the raise that you should get, and I hope you back away from not taking this raise.”
Councillor Sarah Good also supported the Mayor’s raise, stating, “I think you’re selling yourself short…I think it is your duty to recognize the amount of work that goes into this and honour the compensation that is adequate, barely adequate for the work that’s put in. So don’t sell yourself short.”
Councillor Todd Bennett has reservations, emphasizing thedifficulty in voting for their own pay raises. “It’s kind of hard to vote yourself a raise, and then you should always be putting it off and making the decisions for the council that comes after us, not for ourselves,” Bennett said.
Councillor Maurice Dupelle also expressed his discomfort with the idea of voting for a pay raise, stating, “It is very uncomfortable to sit here and give yourself a raise… I’m not comfortable with that and it is a huge amount of money to the taxpayer.” Dupelle’s comments highlighted his concerns about the financial impact on taxpayers and the ethical dilemma of approving their own salary increases. In contrast, Councillor Sarah Good argued that the proposed net $47,000 increase would not significantly affect taxpayers.
The vote was 6-3 in favor of the pay increase, with Councillors Dean Hollingsworth and Fred Ngoundjo absent. After the discussion on the proposed salary adjustments, Councillor Claude McIntosh lightened the mood with a quick joke, asking, “Is that retroactive?” This brought a moment of levity to a serious and intense debate on compensation. However, according to the Council Compensation Review, the administration will calculate and pay a retro pay for 2023 and 2024 regarding the 2% of their current pay rate.
Following this, Councillor Todd Bennett made a motion to maintain the status quo of not providing any benefits to councillors. Themotion was seconded by Councillor Maurice Dupelle. Council voted in favor of Bennett’s motion, opting to retain the existing policy of no benefits for council members.
Additionally, Council moved forward on other aspects of thecompensation review. Items #4 and #5, which pertained to conducting a municipal review of Council’s compensation for the term starting in 2026 and preparing a bylaw for adoption based on the Council’s decisions regarding remuneration and expenses, were both carried without opposition.
