Pay is going up for the mayor of Chatham-Kent but council pay will stay the same.
Council voted Monday night to raise the yearly salary for Chatham-Kent's mayor from approximately $83,000 to $93,000. The increase will take effect next term from 2018 to 2022.
A citizen's review committee recommended that the income be increased to $103,000 a year.
Mayor Randy Hope says the vote ensures the mayoral position's pay remains competitive, but could have gone further "to clean up a lot of stuff haunting council" the last several years.
The mayor wanted a system where pay would focus more on attendance and participation.
Councillors voted down their own pay raise that would have seen their salary increase from around $26,000 per year to $31,000 a year beginning next term.
A citizens review committee will now revisit that issue in four years.
Hope says the review committee did an excellent job "taking the pressure off council." He adds "what it does, is mitigate the responsibility of council so it's not a self-serving idea, it's very practical."
-With files from Natalia Vega
