Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 28/01) - Councillors want more information before any further debate on a citizens' committee's recommendations to restructure council and change how they're paid.

Coun. Ben McDonald questions savings possible from reducing size of council.

During a public services committee meeting Monday afternoon, councillors decided they needed more information.

"It is going back to committee," said Mayor Gord Van Tighem. "It was referred back to administration for a few adjustments to some of the points."

The remuneration review committee was struck on May 14 to review everything from council size to salaries. Its Sept. 24 report recommended council be cut from eight to six, the mayor be given a severance package based on a week's pay per year served and that councillor honorariums be restructured.

Any changes accepted from this committee would only take hold after the next election.

Coun. Ben McDonald disagreed with the committee's suggestion to cut the size of council.

"The savings available are about $20,000 and not worth the risk of potentially removing representation," said McDonald.

"The argument that says it's too much says we can't afford democracy and that is unacceptable."

Councillors also questioned the need to restructure honoraria.

The committee recommended all non-taxable benefits councillors and mayor receive be scrapped and added to the taxable base salary.

Some councillors said increasing salaries would put taxpayers on the hook for something the federal government is paying.

The mayor's income comes from five different sources, some of it non-taxable.

He receives a fuel allowance, non-taxed vacation pay, a non-taxed municipal officer's allowance (MOA) and housing allowance, on top of a base salary of $48,956, of which five per cent is invested in an RRSP.

The committee recommended lumping it into one taxable salary of $107,138.

Councillors receive income from two different sources on top of their $9,150 base salary -- $4,757 in non-taxable MOA and $1,187 in honoraria.

The committee recommended one base taxable salary of $17,187. The taxable equivalent of the MOA is $6,850.

The remuneration committee comprised: David Connelly, management consultant; David Hamilton, legislative assembly clerk; Michel Bourassa, territorial court judge; Robert Slaven, former city councillor; Rick Upton, manager of board operations with the Department of Health and Social Services; and Bob Haywood, president of the NWT chapter of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.