Council Freezes Their Salary

Vaughan Council has voted not to take a pay raise. The City’s non-union staff will have their pay levels adjusted to be consistent with the rate increases provided to union employees earlier this year. Council, however, has decided to freeze their own salaries even though the City’s Pay Line Policy provides for economic adjustments for elected officials that reflect adjustments provided to management employees.

“In these times of economic challenges, Council has decided to take a leadership role and decline a pay raise, even though City policy provides for one,” said Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua. “We are motivated by our desire to build a great city. Our focus is to give the citizens of Vaughan the best representation possible. We have a great deal of respect for the taxpayer’s hard-earned dollar and take the stewardship of our City’s finances seriously.”

In accordance with the City’s Pay Line Policy, adopted by Council in 2002 following the recommendations by management consultants Grant Thornton, adjustments to salary schedules follow a 50 percentile approach. The purpose of the policy is to maintain salaries at a mid-range level, to reflect the average or mid-point paid by comparator municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area.
 
“The City of Vaughan has a strategy for attracting and retaining a professional workforce, and this requires competitive compensation,” said City Manager Clayton Harris. “Having a highly skilled and motivated workforce has allowed the City to provide a high level of service with one of the lowest tax rates in the GTA.”

The City of Vaughan has a full-time complement of 1,074, of which 245 are non-union.