SYDNEY, N.S. — Municipal council is scrapping a controversial expense claim option in favour of what some elected officials say is a more transparent and accountable method of travel compensation.
The contentious issue centres around how Cape Breton Regional Municipality councillors are compensated for duty-related travel in their own vehicles. Since the mid-2000s, they have had the option of claiming $140 per week without presenting travel details. Some routinely claim the weekly per diem, while others opt to submit their claims based on the 46 cents per kilometre rate formula.
Coun. Steve Gillespie, who represents Sydney River, Coxheath, Westmount and Edwardsville, says he has never submitted a travel expense claim since being elected to council in the October 2016 municipal election.
“This, as people have known, is a contentious issue, but at the same time it’s not about the money, it’s about the transparency,” said Gillespie.
“The reality is that the municipality is not made up of equally sized districts. There is a district that is less than 10 square kilometres and a district that is over a 1,000 square-kilometres. It is difficult to pay each councillor the same when we all know that travel in the district and travel to meetings is not equitably compensated.”
In December, Gillespie asked senior staff to look into the issue and to determine how the CBRM’s policy compares with other municipalities.
On Tuesday, chief financial officer Jennifer Campbell presented the findings of the requested jurisdictional scan at council’s monthly general committee meeting. She noted that the majority of Nova Scotia municipalities, including Halifax, reimburse their elected officials on an actual mileage but with restrictions. Campbell then recommended that the CBRM follow suit with the new policy to include clearly defined parameters of what constitutes eligible travel expenses.
What followed was a lively, and sometimes uncomfortable, debate.
Gillespie, who made the motion to adopt Campbell’s recommendation, was the first to speak on the matter.
“I think it is a better way to do it and a more transparent way to do it,” he said.
New Waterford and area councillor Kendra Coombes also gave the motion her support.
“It does allow for accountability and more transparency,” she said.
By the end of the debate, all 11 councillors present had taken the opportunity to voice their opinions. And, while council voted unanimously to accept Campbell’s recommendation of moving to an actual mileage claim formula, some district representatives made no apologies for utilizing the easier $140 weekly claim.
“I never ever felt guilty about taking the $140 because I go to a lot of meetings,” said Sydney Mines councillor Clarence Prince. “I’ve never heard any complaints about that from my district, but I’ll go with the flow.”
Dominion/Glace Bay councillor Darren Bruckschwaiger also went with the flow but not before reminding his colleagues that being a councillor means lots of travel which in turn means more wear and tear on vehicles that are also costly to operate.
“I can assure you I have made no money off this deal,” he said.
Campbell and her staff will now prepare a draft policy for the consideration of council.
Mayor Cecil Clarke said the new document will define what will be considered eligible travel expenses. He said the list will certainly include what he calls “milestone” events that are attended by elected officials as part of their municipal responsibilities.
Council will have the final say on what allowances and restrictions will be in the new policy.
The new direction comes 15 months after the CBRM council approved its own pay raise in a move to offset federal tax changes that eliminated the tax-free status on one-third of the salaries of elected public officials.