Sundre's council recently discussed ó but did not agree ó whether to review the policy outlining elected officials' remuneration for meetings.
Mayor Terry Leslie told his colleagues during the Feb. 27 meeting that council had taken on a significantly larger number of meetings this term and that the increased workload justified approving additional per diem expenses.
However, according to policy, members of council cannot request compensation for regular meetings or even special meetings such as workshops held in town, said Vic Pirie, director of finance and administration.
"Our interpretation of the bylaw is such that the honorarium that you receive on a biweekly basis covers all council meetings, which includes special council meetings," he said.
"In addition, when you read what the per diems are supposed to pay for, they're primarily to pay for out-of-town meetings. Therefore again, your special council meetings in town are considered under the MGA (Municipal Government Act) to be a council meeting and not a committee meeting, and therefore should be covered under your honorarium and not be paid."
Although should council disagree with that interpretation of the policy, then a motion would be required to approve the payment of per diems in contravention of the policy, he said.
"Well, I'm going to take the hit on this one," said Leslie, who put on the table a motion to approve per diems for three recent special meetings.
"I do that because I want to point out to council and the public that for the calendar year of 2017, council has decided to take on 33 per cent more council meetings."
Council's business has reached the point in which scheduling fewer meetings, as in the past, would not allow sufficient time for proper discussion on municipal matters, he said. The mayor went on to ask Pirie whether the legislative budget has been in surplus or deficit over the past few years.
"Specific to the per diems, you tend to generally be below budget," answered Pirie.
About $23,000 was budgeted in 2016, although the actual year-end figure came in at about $18,000. Even so, that does not mean the existing policy allows payment of per diems on council meetings held in town, he added.
Further stating his case, the mayor pointed out council had only gone on one retreat in more than three years with no more lined up before the end of its term. Additionally, the municipality has been operating for the better part of a year without a full-time chief administrative officer, and the additional time members of council have invested is volunteer based, he said.
"It seems odd to me that we get paid if we're not here, but we can't for a special meeting claim a per diem for work that we actually do at that particular time."
As council's roles continue to change, the per diem policy should probably be reviewed, he said.
"The wording is causing us a little bit of issue."
Also, as there is an election coming in the fall, attracting and retaining members of council ó there were two byelections throughout the current term ó should be taken into consideration, the mayor said.
Coun. Cheri Funke disagreed with the mayor's motion to pay for the three special meetings, "mostly because there's a lot of policies that we have that we don't agree with, but it doesn't mean that we can make decisions on whim to change those policies. We do have a policy committee."
However, she agreed that the per diem policy should be reviewed.
"We need to get a committee (together) but we also have an approved budget, so I wouldn't be in agreement with changing anything until the new budget comes out."
And although Funke understood where the mayor was coming from in terms of retaining members of council, she expressed doubt that compensation alone has much to do with keeping elected officials, but rather that retention has more to do with the commitment a person makes when deciding to run.
Coun. Chris Vardas agreed revisiting the policy could be worthwhile.
"I've been on this council for two terms now. And we are starting to go to a lot more meetings than we were before," he said, going on to add that the time councillors volunteer to invest in their roles is time taken away from their full-time jobs as well as their families.
So in terms of compensation, Sundre has to be up to par with comparable municipalities, and the councillor said he was in favour of reviewing council's per diem policy.
Council went on to carry Leslie's motion to approve a per diem for three special meetings dating back to January and February.
The mayor also suggested striking a committee to begin revisiting the policy so the incoming council would have its expectations outlined in such a way as to avoid circumstances that create confusion. However, he withdrew his motion following further discussion and said council could decide at a later date whether to pursue the issue.
Pirie also reminded council that in the 2017 budget, council's honorariums are reflective of what municipal staff got, which is a zero per cent increase.
"This is a commentary at this point, (but) if you were looking at adjustments in 2017 saying at the same time your staff can continue at a zero increase, it may not send the kind of message you want to your staff."
As per the existing policy, the mayor receives an annual remuneration of $21,000 while councillors receive $12,500. Full details of the policy are available on the town's website in council's Feb. 27 agenda package.
