With almost no debate, Peterborough city council has voted to endorse a staff report proposing a 60 per cent raise for the mayor and a 52 per cent raise councillors for the next term of council.
Meeting as general committee on Tuesday night (April 22), council voted almost unanimously in favour of the report from Richard Freymond, the city’s commissioner or finance and corporate services, which recommends a “reset” of base compensation for council.
Comparing 2023 pay rates for mayors and councillors in 14 other single, upper, and lower-tier municipalities across Ontario, the report recommends that remuneration for Peterborough city council be based on the 75th percentile of the 2023 pay rates in those municipalities.
When adjusted for inflation using CUPE collective bargaining settlements, that would result in compensation for the mayor of $147,631 in 2026, an increase of 59.8 per cent over what the mayor will be paid in 2025, and $54,991 for each councillor in 2026, an increase of 52 per cent over what each councillor will be paid in 2025.
When the item came forward for consideration, councillor Gary Baldwin made a motion to defer the report.
“I’m not comfortable with some of the comparables in the report,” Baldwin said, referring to the list of comparator municipalities. “I’d like it to go back to Mr. Freymond to see if we could bring perhaps a few more comparables and have a redo of this, and bring it back for council’s consideration.”
Councillor Keith Riel immediately called the question on Baldwin’s motion, a procedural move to cut off any discussion and bring the motion to an immediate vote.
After voted 8-3 in support of calling the question, with councillors Baldwin, Andrew Beamer, and Kevin Duguay voting against it, councillors voted 11-2 voted against Baldwin’s motion, with Baldwin and Mayor Jeff Leal voting in favour of the deferral,
Councillors then discussed the report itself, with only Duguay and Baldwin making comments.
“I know this will be and has been a sensitive subject with some community members, but not all,” Duguay said. “This (council’s) remuneration is not at par with comparable municipalities having comparable and similar responsibilities.”
Duguay added that, if additional comparator municipalities were included in the report as Baldwin requested, “we would have probably found more of the same.”
“(We would have) probably found that mayors and councillors in medium-sized, small-sized city, large cities are as a rule generally paid more than this council is paid,” Duguay said.
In his comments, Baldwin said his “greatest concern” was moving to a 75th percentile and doing so in a single year.
“A 50th percentile I think is the median, and I think that’s where Peterborough fits,” he said. “It’s not the fact that I was in opposition to the recommendations (to council), it was getting to the 75th percentile in the first year.”
Baldwin added that he thinks the increase should be “staged over a four-year period of time.”
With no further discussion, council voted 10-1 in favour of the report, with only Baldwin voting against it.
In addition to the pay increase, which would only take effect for the 2026-2030 term of council starting in December 2026, the report also recommends that compensation for the mayor and councillors be increased each December for the remainder of council’s term, equal to the inflationary increase provided to CUPE staff bargaining groups.
The report also recommends a 17.4 per cent increase for the vehicle/transportation allowance for both the mayor and councillors, from $5,112 to $6,000 for the mayor and from to $2,556 to $3,000 for each councillor.
Items endorsed by general committee will be considered by council for final approval next Monday (April 28).
