MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - In a split decision, county council has approved a cost of living adjustment (COLA) increase for councillors and staff of one per cent for 2021.
The move came by way of motion at a regularly scheduled Mountain View County council meeting, held by teleconference.
Each percentage of COLA increase costs the municipality $100,000, said Robert Beaupertuis, director of corporate services.
“Each year the county reviews the general economic conditions and makes recommendations regarding cost of living adjustments to salaries and wages for both staff and council” and that the consumer price index (CPI) has been used as a general indicator of economic conditions, he said.
“During 2020 budget deliberations, council approved moving COLA discussions to be addressed with the interim operating budget, using CPI numbers as of September annually,” he said.
For the period of December 2019 to September 2020 CPI was 0.9 per cent, he said.
A COLA comparison chart provided to council indicted that the Town of Olds council would be considering a 1.34 per cent COLA increase on Dec. 14.
Reeve Bruce Beattie spoke in support of the increase.
“I think our staff at least needs to keep up with inflation,” said Beattie. “This is a difficult time for all employees who are working under a lot of stress, so I support at least something that keeps up with the cost of inflation.”
Coun. Angela Aalbers also said she could support the increase.
“I’m going to support the one per cent and then I’m going to challenge us when we go through the budget that if we feel we really can’t afford the $100,000 we can find it somewhere else.” said Aalbers.
“I think our staff have done an amazing job in hard time and I appreciate that.”
Deputy reeve Greg Harris and councillors Dwayne Fulton and Duncan Milne also said they could support the increase.
Coun. Al Kemmere spoke against the increase.
“We’ve had many of our residents who have seen significant reductions in their pay,” said Kemmere. “Zero at this time would recognize the challenges right across our economy.”
Coun. Peggy Johnson also said she could not support the increase, noting that the provincial government is asking for a four per cent rollback from some public sector workers.
The motion to approve the one per cent COLA increase passed 5-2.
