Cambridge city councillors and the mayor approved a recommendation to give themselves an annual 3.59 per cent raise in addition to cost of living increases in each year of their four year term.
Tuesday's vote means Mayor Jan Liggett will see her salary rise from $110,000 to $113,949 this year.
Next year her salary will rise to $118,039. In year three, it will jump to $122,276, and in year four it will rise to $126,665.
Liggett also earns about $46,000 per year plus benefits as a regional councillor.
Each of the eight councillors on the Cambridge horseshoe will see their salaries rise from $43,718 to $45,287 this year, $46,912 in year two, $48,596 in year three, and $50,340 in their last year of office.
The motion to approve the salary hikes closely followed a recommendation from a committee tasked with the job of figuring out council remuneration.
The committee was made up of three citizens representing the non-profit, business and education sectors. They met several times during the period from September 2022 through January 2023.
Council also directed the city clerk to prepare the necessary by-law for remuneration for final approval on April 25, making it retroactive to November 2022.
Other financial implications of the decision won't be decided until September when council reconsiders the council expenses policy.
The impact of that on city coffers will be dependant on uptake from councillors on eligible expenses that could include perks like a Grand River Transportation pass, discretionary funds which are currently $2,500 per year for councillors and $4,500 for the mayor, an allowance for a home security system, and meal per diems for attendance at seminars and conferences.
It could also compensate councillors up to $1,000 for home security equipment for the entire term of council, plus any related monitoring service charges set at $50 per month.
The remuneration committee had recommended Liggett's salary remain at $110,000, with an annual cost of living adjustment based on a relevant consumer price index.
The mayor's benefits and OMERS pension contributions paid for by the city were also to remain the same, as was an $8,000 car allowance in lieu of having a leased vehicle provided by the city.
Coun. Mike Devine made a motion to exclude the mayor from the 3.59 per cent pay raise, but that motion failed 8-1 in a vote.
"We entrusted a citizen committee to look at council compensation," Devine said, in wanting to follow the recommendation and go with a separate vote for the mayor. "I'm not saying the mayor shouldn't get an increase. The mayor does a pile of work for the city, but I'm not convinced of the 3.59 in this case."
In coming to its recommendation for the mayor's salary, the committee considered the fact that Cambridge is not a single tier municipality and the mayor receives further compensation for sitting as a councillor with the Region of Waterloo.
It compared Cambridge to the City of Guelph, which is a single tier municipality with a similar population.
Guelph pays its mayor $152,500 while councillors are paid about $47,000.
The committee said in order to get Cambridge councillors to 55th per centile of what other municipalities are paying their councillors, it would need to recommend a 13 per cent increase, which it determined is accomplished over the term with a raise of 3.59 per cent annually.
The other consideration explored by the committee was the idea of compensating councillors at a full-time rate in order to attract the best slate of candidates.
They recommended that if council deems the role is a full-time commitment at some point, which some current and former councillors believe is the case, then the annual salary should range between $85,000 to $100,000.
"As an education worker, I'm not happy with that wage," committee member Jeff Donkersgoed said in reference to the part-time rate in February. "I believe you deserve full pay. We highly value the work you do and believe you should be compensated for that."
But giving Cambridge councillors a full time salary would put the city in the same realm as Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa, the only cities in the province that compensate their councillors with full-time pay, and all are single tier.
Despite what they're paid, most current and former Cambridge councillors who were interviewed by the committee last fall said they work between 30 and 40 hours a week on average.
Committee member Erik Reed said council should consider the full-time wage option again when the city undertakes its next ward boundary review.
"It's a huge sacrifice you're all making," he said, adding he hopes the recommendation is used to drive the discussion forward. "It's a part-time commitment in name only. You're not the only city having to examine this."
"I think you 've made a good decision tonight and the taxpayers will respect you for that," Liggett said following the vote.
