SLRD to consider major pay raise for elected officials

BY PAYING MORE, REGIONAL DISTRICT HOPES TO ATTRACT ‘NEW BLOOD’ TO AREA DIRECTOR ROLES

BY ROBERT WISLA

LOCAL POLITICIANS may soon see a pay increase at the regional level as the SquamishLillooet Regional District (SLRD) board will consider increasing the salary for its four electoral area directors by $20,000 over the next four years.

SLRD area directors discussed the resolution at the April 5 electoral area directors (EAD) meeting.

If approved, it would increase the salary for the district’s four area directors by $5,000 in both 2024 and 2025 and another $10,000 in 2026 (prior to the next municipal election).

Area directors currently earn about $34,000 annually, though the chair of the EAD board earns an extra $3,840.

The resolution came from Area D Director Tony Rainbow, who has led the charge on increasing the directors’ salary since the end of the previous term, citing the need to bring a broader range of people into the role.

“I can afford to do it because I have a pension, but if our stipend stays as low as it is, you’re basically restricting electoral area directors to people who are independently wealthy, business people who can afford to take 25 to 40 hours off a week ... or someone who has a full pension,” Rainbow said at an SLRD board meeting last September.

The pay for regional district directors varies wildly across the province. In the Central Kootenay Regional District, the salary ranges from $45,000 to $50,000 per representative, while in the Peace River Regional District, that average drops to about $20,000 per representative.

For comparison, in Whistler, municipal councillors earn $48,798 annually, and in Pemberton they take home about $15,405.