Cambridge taxpayers paid about 1 per cent more in honorariums and expenditures for council and the city's board appointees in 2023, due mainly to a rise in the number of conferences, conventions, seminars and trips taken by the mayor and council.
The total cost in terms of salaries and expenditures for the city's nine councillors came to $624,199 last year. That's up from $618,292 from the year before.
In 2023 the total conferences, conventions, and seminars, of which the mayor and councillors are allowed to attend two a year, totalled $41,817 compared to $24,703 in 2022.
The mayor's annual salary, including benefits and pension contributions was $110,376, while each of the eight councillors' salaries is $45,440.
The mayor also earns a $12,800 honorarium from the city for her role on the Hydro Board of Directors.
Councillors attended events like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Toronto last May, the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in August and an AMO homelessness symposium.
Mayor Jan Liggett's bills for conferences, seminars and trips added up to $13,293 last year and included a "mission trip" to Europe with the Waterloo Region Economic Development Corporation, which cost city taxpayers $7,476.
Coun. Nicholas Ermeta topped the list for conference expenditures at $5,941. He was followed by councillors Adam Cooper and Ross Earnshaw whose event expenditures were $5,822 and $5,810 respectively.
They were followed by councillors Sheri Roberts and Corey Kimpson, whose event expenditures were $4,600 and $4,460 respectively.
The late Donna Reid incurred $1,891 in expenses for conferences.
Councillors Scott Hamilton and Mike Devine did not attend any conferences last year.
The mayor is given a yearly expense allowance of up to $4,400 for things like promotion, meals and office supplies, while councillors are given a yearly expense allowance of up to $2,500 for which receipts must be submitted.
The mayor spent $3,077 on miscellaneous expenses last year while various expenses for council ranged from the low end at $947 for Coun. Scott Hamilton to $2,215 for Coun. Corey Kimpson.
Miscellaneous costs for council include pension plan and CPP contributions, vehicle expenditures, cell phone data plans and internet use. Those costs for each member of council ranged from Liggett's total of $9,187 to about $14,000 for most councillors.
Council appointees cost taxpayers $7,477 last year, up from $3,000 in 2022. Appointees of the property standards appeal committee and the committee of adjustment get honorariums of a few hundred to a thousand dollars.
Added up, the total honorariums and expenditures for council and council appointees, as well as the expenditures of Library Board of Trustees and Hydro Board of Directors totalled $645,436 last year.
