{"id":38145,"date":"2026-05-14T13:41:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=38145"},"modified":"2026-05-14T13:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:42:22","slug":"outgoing-council-to-consider-compensation-for-incoming-lawmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/outgoing-council-to-consider-compensation-for-incoming-lawmakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Outgoing Council to consider compensation for incoming lawmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The thorny issue of Council compensation is set to come back into the spotlight this week as members of the outgoing Council consider potential pay increases for members of the 2026-2030 Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting at the Committee level this week, Council is set to look at the current pay received by Mayor and Council in Aurora and how it compares to salaries received by lawmakers in similar municipalities across the Greater Toronto Area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The staff report was \u201cintended to support fair and equitable compensation while maintaining fiscal responsibility and accountability to Aurora taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe analysis considered principles of fiscal prudence, the need to attract a diverse and qualified pool of candidates, and the recognition of the demanding nature, complexity, and public accountability associated with the role of Mayor and Councillors,\u201d say staff. \u201cFactors of time commitment, decision-making responsibilities, and the breadth of issues addressed by elected officials were also considered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comparison report, which looked at salaries in King, Newmarket, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Bradford West Gwillimbury, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, Caledon, Halton, and Uxbridge, found that the current mayoral salary in Aurora is 3.34 per cent below the 60th<\/sup> percentile, while compensation for Aurora Councillors falls to 31.96 per cent below that same percentile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs part of the market review, staff assessed potential market positioning options to guide the Town\u2019s approach to Council compensation,\u201d say staff. \u201cA position at the 50th<\/sup> percentile is market. Anything above the 50th<\/sup> percentile is competitive. Based on the data reviewed, consideration may be given to a market position at approximately the 60th<\/sup> percentile, which balances fiscal responsibility with the objective of providing competitive and equitable compensation relative to comparable municipalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBased on the findings of the review, direction from Council is required with respect to the desired market positioning (percentile) within the identified comparator group, as well as the continuation or modification of car allowance entitlements for the Mayor and Members of Council. Reviews of benefits and severance entitlements for Members of Council confirm that no changes are required at this time. Council\u2019s direction on the identified matters will enable staff to proceed accordingly and ensure that compensation practices remain fair, competitive, and aligned with Council\u2019s objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to vehicle allowances, the report found within the comparator group, transportation allowances for mayors range from $3,000 to $16,000, while the same allowances for Councillors range from $1,500 to $12,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBased on the average results of the comparator analysis, adjusting the Mayor\u2019s transportation allowance to $12,000 to align with the market would represent a 17.14 per cent increase, while adjusting the Councillor\u2019s transportation allowance to $3,250 would represent a 32 per cent increase,\u201d say staff. \u201cAdjustments should recognize increased vehicle operating costs, and the travel demands associated with the role and, while remaining below most comparator municipalities, demonstrate a fiscally responsible approach to market alignment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any increase to Council and Mayoral compensation would result in an increase to the Town\u2019s Operating Budget for the year it becomes active, note staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The thorny issue of Council compensation is set to come back into the spotlight this week as members of the outgoing Council consider potential pay increases for members of the 2026-2030 Council. Sitting at the Committee level this week, Council is set to look at the current pay received by Mayor and Council in Aurora […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-headline_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9Vf","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-21 15:51:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38145"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38146,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38145\/revisions\/38146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}