A municipal committee is set to vote on possible raises for London ward councillors, which could see each politician getting a salary increase of more than $10,000 annually.
A task force has put together a report which recommends all 14 ward councillors receive a pay bump that puts their salary at the median full time employment income for Londoners. In 2010, 35% of Londoners had a median income of $47,805.
In 2015, London councillors made around $36,000, which is the lowest annual pay rate out of 16 other cities reviewed in the task force's report. In the same year, councillors in Kitchener earned $47,464, while those in Windsor took home $40,000. Municipal politicians in Ottawa took home $97,730.
If council accepts the recommendation in the report, each member of council would see a salary increase of over 30%, which would come into effect at the beginning of council's next term, following the 2018 municipal election.
The recommendation in the report was made by the task force following numerous meetings between March 2016 to the present, as well as a focus group session and an open house, which were conducted to gather public input.
The report and recommendation will be presented to London's Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee on Monday. If the recommendation is approved, it will go to council where the councilors will decide whether or not to give themselves the salary bump.
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