The 24-member CRD board will get a raise come next year.
Board members voted to up their salaries after hiring a consultant to look a comparable regions across B.C.
“The board in April decided that after 20 years of no major review of the salaries that it should be done and it should be done by a consultant who was independent of the board. Not a staff member and not a politician,” said Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen, the lone Oak Bay representative and chair of the CRD board.
“The increase was to reflect the significant changes in the CRD over the last 20 years.”
As of Jan. 1, directors’ pay will increase to $17,000 from $8,940. The chair will receive $25,000 a year, while the board vice-chair, standing committee chairperson and hospital district chairperson will receive additional stipends between $2,500 and $5,000.
Directors involved in more than two committees will also receive an additional $5,000.
“A typical director would sit on the board and would sit on two or three subcommittees of the board. These are the subcommittees that do a lot of research, policy analysis and in short, heavy lifting,” Jensen said.
The increases account for roughly $250,000.
The consultants’ research showed the district was “appreciably below what was being paid across the province to similar sized and similar complexity of regional districts,” Jensen said.
There was a feeling across the board that they should not wait another two decades to review remuneration at the CRD, he added. “These reviews should be done on a fairly regular three- to five-year cycle.”
cvanreeuwyk@oakbaynews.com