Frontenac County Council takes (a small) pay hike

Jeff Green | Jun 26, 2024

It happens every term of council, it seems, a consultant is brought in to have a look at the amount of money that is paid to members of Frontenac County Council as compared to the amount paid to members of a 'comparator' group of Ontario county councils.

And each time the result is similar.

This time, the consultant, Jane Mizanski, from Gallagher Consulting, presented the essential elements of her analysis, showing that the warden's pay of $36,349. per year is 64% below the median pay of $60,084 from the comparison group of Ontario counties (Brant, Dufferin, Elgin, Lanark, Lennox and Addington, Perth, Peterborough, Prince Edward, and Prescott & Russell). The pay for council members, $16, 647, is 50.9% below the median pay from the comparison group, which is $25,123.

Mizanski set out three options for Council to follow in light of her findings. One option was to ignore the findings, and stick to the status quo, council pay goes up each year by the annualised cost of living index each October, the same measure used for non-unionised county employees. The second option was to raise the pay of the council members, and the warden, to be in line with the comparators, starting in 2025. The third option was to increase the pay by 10% per year for 4 or 5 years until it came into line with the low end of the other jurisdictions.

Councillor Nicki Gowdy (Central Frontenac) said the comparators used in the study are all bigger municipalities overseeing a larger range of services, including roads and transit programs in some cases. Along with Judith Greenwood-Speers (Mayor – Frontenac Islands) Gowdy said that taxation is already too high for many ratepayers and she does not want to force a tax increase by upping pay for council members.

Warden Frances Smith took a different view.

“I think this is probably the 10th time we've received the same information, and we never do much about it. We are underpaid and we do have major responsibilities whether we get paid for them or not. I'd like to see us look at phasing something in over the next 4 or 5 years or 6 years, or whatever. I think we underestimate ourselves.”

North Frontenac Mayor Gerry Lichty asked why the previous council raised the wage by $4,000 when they received a similar report 4 years ago.

Deputy Warden Ron Vandewal, who sat on that previous council, said, “it was to bring it up a little further.”

“You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, in these situations. We get higher pay in North Frontenac for a $7million budget than we do here for $40 million, and if we do nothing we only fall farther behind.”

Ron Vandewal said “I can't support increasing our pay without increasing staff pay by the same amount. Besides, the work I do as mayor in South Frontenac is 100% more than when I was the warden here, so I don't see raising the pay.”

Frances Smith said: “I think we should stop doing this survey each time when it leads nowhere anyway, and that costs money and time.

The solution that emerged was to raise the pay for all positions on council by 3.5% in 2025 and 2026, the last two years of this council.

That will result in a salary of $39,249 in 2026 for the warden, $17,833 for a member of council, and $21,400 for the deputy warden. (The deputy warden receives a 20% bump from the regular council member salary.)

There will be no cost of living increase for members of council over the final two years of this term of council.

The resolution also included a commitment to do it all over again during the next term of council.