The mayor of Saint-Jérôme increase his salary by 27%

Photo Stéphane Sinclair
Stéphane Maher
Mayor

Stéphane Sinclair

Wednesday, 21 February, 2018 20:36

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Wednesday, 21 February, 2018 20:36

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The mayor of Saint-Jérôme, Stéphane Maher, will be entitled to a salary increase of 27 %. He explained, at the meeting of council, Tuesday, that a mayor is well paid was certainly a better job that a mayor is badly paid.

The salary of the mayor of the city of 100 000 inhabitants will grow from 99 000 to $ 126 400 $. They are also entitled to an expense allowance of 16 476 $, for a total of about 143 000 $.

The mayor has made it clear to the citizens present at the meeting of the city council, last Tuesday, that a better salary was a token of a job well done. He gave the example of a mayor who would be in a potential collective bargaining with the police officers of the municipality.

“Do you think that a mayor under-paid will complicate the task if the negotiations became more complicated ? Would put in all the hours needed ? ” said Stéphane Maher. He said that he was going to do his job well and to conduct the negotiations to come.

He, however, refused to answer questions from the Newspaper on this salary increase.

He also specified that he was earning much more in the private sector before applying to the city of Saint-Jérôme.

“Revolting “

“It has the merit of being frank, but it is revolting. This is a symptom of a team elected without opposition “, explained Julien Michaud-Latour, a citizen of Saint-Jérôme.

Councillors have also voted to increase their salary. The base salary of councillors will rise from 19 898 $ to $ 22,000, an increase of a little less than 10 %.

Since June 15, 2017, the law 122 the government of Quebec has removed the ceilings for the salaries of elected municipal officials. In addition, allocation of expenses 16 476 $ will be imposed from 2019 by the federal government. A portion of the increase in salary is intended to compensate for the taxation of the allocation of expenditure.

For Danielle Pilette, a professor associated with the department of management, UQAM and an expert in municipal management, the arguments of the mayor are ill-chosen. She explained that it would have done better to talk about the economy of Saint-Jérôme.

“The city will soon surpass the 100 000 inhabitants. Some borough mayors have a lot more to Montreal for challenges may be less significant, ” she said.

By comparison, the base salary of the mayor of Montreal is a little over $ 168,000, and the salaries of the mayors in the district varies between 103 000 and $ 149 000 $.