The following page is dedicated to providing additional information regarding specific topics.
Amendments to the Council Compensation and Expense Reimbursement Policy were adopted at the December 9, 2024 Regular meeting of Council. To clarify, Council did not vote on any salary changes.
Amendments were made to only the following:
- Sections 4 and 5 to clarify group benefits;Â
- Appendix A to update a reference, clarify salary reviews per Council term;
- Removed the Expense Reimbursement subheading; and
- Inserted a new Appendix B to track the dates and salary changes for Council. Appendix B was added to provide transparency to the historical data and will be updated when salary changes are made.
Review the redlined version of the policy highlighting those changesÂ
Review the fully amended policy:
Council Compensation and Expense Reimbursement PolicyÂ
The previous Council implemented this policy on December 10, 2018, so that there was a standard process, and it eliminated Council voting on their own salary. This policy stipulates that a comprehensive review of salaries takes place every four (4) years, or once per Council term of office.
Appendix A outlines the process, showing how Council annual salaries will be adjusted according to the same general market adjustment that employees receive. The Town considers mid-market value to be the median value based on the Town’s 11 comparator municipalities in Alberta; this is conducted by an independent third party consultant. Based on the defined process, Council was not being compensated at mid-market.
Mayor/Reeve Total Compensation – Financial Statements Results
This information is as per the 2023 Financial Statements (except for St. Albert and Cochrane which is as of 2022) and includes annual salary, plus annual benefits and allowances.Â
This review was completed by an independent third party consultant and is included below:
Municipality | Position | Annual Salary | Annual Benefits and Allowances | Annual Total Compensation | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | Okotoks, Town of | Mayor | $96,000 | $6,000 | $102,000 |
2024 | Â | Mayor | $108,492 | Â | Â |
Municipality | Position | Annual Salary | Annual Benefits and Allowances | Annual Total Compensation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fort Saskatchewan, City of | Mayor | $101,685 | $10,309 | $111,994 |
Leduc, City of | Mayor | $98,556 | $10,049 | $108,605 |
Cochrane, Town of | Mayor | $99,600 | $11,996 | $111,596 |
Foothills County | Reeve | $99,600 | $5,784 | $105,384 |
Canmore, Town of | Mayor | $108,980 | $14,548 | $123,528 |
Airdrie, City of | Mayor | $117,678 | $14,729 | $132,407 |
Rocky View County | Reeve | $122,966 | $14,339 | $137,305 |
High River, Town of* | Mayor | $66,165 | $9,812 | $75,977 |
St. Albert, City of | Mayor | $144,426 | $9,494 | $153,920 |
Chestermere, City of* | Mayor | $87,946 | $16,280 | $104,226 |
Spruce Grove, City of* | Mayor | $118,801 | $18,672 | $137,473 |
Median of data | Â | $101,685 | $11,996 | $111,994 |
Median of full-time Mayor data | Â | $105,332 | Â | Â |
*Indicates part-time Mayor positions. To calculate the 2023 Mayor median compensation, only full-time Mayor salaries were used which resulted in the median of $105,332. Two of the full time salaries used in the median calculation were from 2022. In 2024, the mid-market salary adjustment of 3% was used to calculate the Mayor's salary for 2024 of $108,492.
Councillor Compensation
Municipality | Annual Salary | Annual Benefits and Allowances | Annual Total Compensation | |
2023 | Okotoks, Town of | $43,342 | $1,000 to $6,000 | $44,342 to $49,342 |
2024 | Â | $48,309 | Â | Â |
Municipality | Annual Salary | Annual Benefits and Allowances | Annual Total Compensation |
Fort Saskatchewan, City of | $45,857 | $7,462 | $53,319 |
Leduc, City of | $45,300 | $11,417 | $56,717 |
Cochrane, Town of | $41,832 | $10,178 | $52,010 |
Foothills County | $80,081 | $8,702 | $88,783 |
Canmore, Town of | $46,902 | $9,716 | $56,618 |
Airdrie, City of | $55,242 | $9,255 | $64,497 |
Rocky View County | $90,840 | $12,036 | $102,876 |
High River, Town of | $34,907 | $7,933 | $42,840 |
St. Albert, City of | $56,261 | $9,122 | $65,383 |
Chestermere, City of | $40,920 | $9,843 | $50,763 |
Spruce Grove, City of | $69,529 | $14,606 | $84,135 |
Median of Data | $46,902 | $9,716 | $56,717 |
In 2024, the mid-market salary adjustment of 3% was used to calculate the Councillors salaries for 2024 of $48,309.
Effective July 22, 2024, Council salary changes were updated under Appendix A in the Council Compensation and Expense Reimbursement Policy to reflect the same mid-market salary adjustment that employees received.Â
Any changes to Council remuneration outside of salary, for example benefit premiums, require amendments to the Council Compensation and Expense Reimbursement Policy.Â