With a close vote of 5 to 4 on Monday, Kelowna, B.C., city council has formally given itself a big pay hike — 15 per cent for the mayor, bringing the salary up to just over $145,000, while councillors will receive a 30-per cent raise and will now make about $58,000.
“This is not an easy discussion,” said Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas right after the vote. “It would have been an easy discussion…it would have been done many years ago.”
Public feedback prompted the pay raise to be phased in with the full amount coming into effect January 2025, instead of one large raise being implemented right away.
The pay hike follows a recent review of a dozen B.C. municipal councils of like-sized cities, with Kelowna second from the bottom when it came to the mayor’s salary and dead last for council remuneration.
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