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Staff, councillors shouldn't pay out of pocket for city travel, says council

All councillors in attendance at Monday's committee of the whole meeting support revisions to municipal expense reimbursement policy expected to pass at Feb. 17 meeting
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At their Monday night Committee of the Whole meeting members of City Council found that Elliot Lake's well-known affordability factor hurts staff, volunteers and council members when they're on the road. 

It was during a discussion on a review of the municipal expense reimbursement policy. Mayor Dan Marchisella said, "We're not, unfortunately, paying Elliot Lake rates for meals. We're paying usually Toronto rates, Windsor rates, Niagara rates."

Counc. Luc Cyr said he agreed that reimbursement has to go up but he cautioned, "The average income of the average taxpayer in Elliot Lake is not exactly the same as the average taxpayer in the country. And that's putting a substantial burden on our average taxpayer."

"I sincerely doubt that the amount of money that is charged by staff or councillors for expenses and travel is putting serious stress on our overall budget," Counc. Ed Pearce said. You want to tell me where you can get a $13 breakfast in Sault Ste. Marie, because you can't?"

"Or Sudbury, let alone Ottawa, Toronto or any other place like that. You can't get a lunch for $23 and you sure can't get dinner for $33," added Pearce.

"We're not trying to gouge the public. What we're trying to do is to be fair to our staff."

The prices he quoted were from a report recommending expense increases as researched by Elliot Lake CAO Daniel Gagnon. The current city expense rates are about $3 less than each of those.

"I just think that there's a cost to doing business. I know that as we're moving forward and building the (Recreation) Hub, we're probably going to be sending more volunteers out to look at things," Councillor Sandy Finamore said.

"This is an issue where we're taking care of our staff mostly. For the most part, they're the ones doing the majority of the travel and council, secondary," Counc. Tom Turner said. 

He wanted the city's expenses tied to the rate established by the Treasury Board of Canada and, based on that, that the draft revised policy be recommended for adoption at the next meeting of council.

The discussion that followed was based on the Gagnon report which produced the latest per diem rates for meals and incidentals for the Treasury Board of Canada, and, the Province of Ontario. 

Gagnon said the city's per diem expenses rate has been stable. 

"The $60 per diem rate has not changed for approximately 15 years. Federal Treasury Board rates have per diems of $91.55. Whereas the provincial rate appears to be $45/day. (which seems quite low). Perhaps a less sophisticated compromise to increase to $70/day may be warranted," Gagnon said.

"An update is needed if for nothing else than the fact that one-third of Council's remuneration had been tax-exempt. That exemption was removed by the federal government and corrected with an increase in council salaries in 2019 to reflect the loss of that one-third exemption," he added.

Reimbursable expenses for city purposes include registration, parking at hotels, airport or event locations, accommodation, meals, gratuities, personal telephone charges, incidentals and travelling expenses.

The CAO must authorize all councillors expense accounts. Staff, volunteers and volunteers need CAO or Director approval. 

The members of the Committee of the Whole supported Turner's motion that the changes should adhere to 2019 federal standards.

The wording, "Councillors and committee members are not expected to personally defray costs incurred while conducting municipal business including but not limited to travel for meetings and conference/training," was also added to the policy.

As well, the revised policy states, "For added clarity, the Mayor may delegate his role of representing the corporation at official functions to the Deputy Mayor or any sitting councillor. In those cases, the designated councillor can claim expenses under this policy."

Since all council members except Counc. Norman Mann were at the meeting Monday night, the Elliot Lake municipal expense reimbursement policy is expected to be approved with increases to the Treasury Board 2019 standard and other agreed changes at the next regular meeting of city council, on Feb. 17.



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About the Author: Brent Sleightholm

As a reporter, Brent has covered everything from amateur and professional sports, to politics, entertainment, police and courts, to human interest stories and government issues
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