WESTVILLE – Monday night Westville town council voted to give themselves a raise in a split vote.
The motion was passed three to two, with councilor Lennie White and Mayor Roger MacKay voting against the motion. MacKay said he didn’t mind staying at his current rate.
From the report given by CAO Scott Fraser, in the 2012 budget there is approximately $37,000 for council remuneration. In the 2013 budget the remuneration would amount to approximately $44,000. The proposed changes, which passed at council, will see the mayor’s compensation increase from $11,443 in 2012 to $12,000 in 2013; the deputy mayor from $6,270 to $8,640; and councilors from $5,852 to $7,500.
The decision to move in this direction came based off of research into the salary of councils in towns with a population range of 2,500 to 10,000 and using the consumer price index (CPI) to determine the increase from the base (2011 compensation). The averages from the 2008 UNSM salary survey were the mayor at $17,113, deputy mayor at 14,850 and council at $12,940.
Fraser pointed out in his report to council that although those salaries are higher than Westville’s the town only has a population of 3,805 and lacks a strong commercial base, unlike some of the towns surveyed.
