Coming up with proposed new salary ranges and remuneration packages is not a simple task.

City council is set to vote tonight on first and second readings of an amendment to the city manager bylaw that would raise the pay range for the role currently held by Christine Smith.

The bylaw would see the salary range change from the current $175,000 – approved shortly before Smith began working in her role in April 2014 – to a range between $175,000 and $195,000.

Council will also vote on first and second readings of the remuneration bylaw.

It would see a 1.5 per cent increase to the amount the next mayor and council will receive.

Barbara Walker, the city’s manager of human resources, said last week there are a number of factors considered in bringing forward potential salary ranges and remuneration changes for council.

In addition to looking at the experience of the city manager – the bylaw change coming forward “in order to provide recognition for growth from a novice employee to an experienced contributor” as it was stated in a report to council – salary ranges and benefits from other jurisdictions are also considered.

Simply looking to one municipality or another for a salary range is not so easy though.

“Whitehorse is unique,” Walker said.

Comparisons could be made to other communities with populations similar to that of Whitehorse (27,962 as of December 2014).

However, its status as a capital city makes it a little different from other many other municipalities with similar populations.

Also to be considered in looking at salaries from other communities are benefits that may be part of the compensation offered.

Some communities looked at having pension plans for employees which Whitehorse does not offer (though it does have an RRSP program), Walker cited as an example.

In looking at the compensation for mayor and council, the proposed change would bring up the remuneration amount by 1.5 per cent – an increase that represents the change in the consumer price index.

That means the city’s next mayor would get a full-time annual salary of $87,942, up from the current $84,100.

Councillors would receive $20,496, up from the current $19,600.

Councillors with dependents under the age of 13 living at home would also be eligible to claim a new child care allowance of $10.30 per hour during city events.

Honoraria for councillors attending additional functions and training would remain at $100 for sessions between one and four hours and $150 for periods of more than four hours.

The Star has contacted a number of municipalities in neighbouring jurisdictions, both capital cities and those with similar populations.

It was learned that the capital city of the Northwest Territories – Yellowknife – has a population of just under 20,000 with annual salaries in 2013 totalling:

• $80,373 for the mayor,

• $18,963 for the deputy mayor; and

• $17,639 for six councillors and $16,513 for a seventh councillor.

Honoraria, travel expenses and such were also provided in addition to the base salary, bringing the total compensation up to $122,794 for the mayor and ranging from totals of $24,796 to $33,815 for the deputy mayor and councillors.

Richard McIntosh, Yellowknife’s communications and economic development officer, said in an email correspondence the municipality does not publicly release the salary range of its senior administration officer (the position closest to Whitehorse’s city manager)

The 2014 annual report detailing mayoral and council salaries from last year will be released in the coming weeks, he said.

The capital city of Alberta – Edmonton – had a population totalling 877,926 as of April 1, 2014.

The mayor’s salary for 2015 is listed at $176,145 while councillors’ salaries are up to $99,994. The salary range for Edmonton’s city manager is between $280,393 and $329,875.

The capital city of British Columbia – Victoria – has a population of 83,000.

There, the mayor is paid $100,912 while councillors earn $40,364 annually, said Katie Hamilton, a spokeswoman for the city.

The city manager, meanwhile, receives an annual salary of $215,000.

Parksville, B.C. has a population that is closer to Whitehorse’s at 28,156.

Financial statements from the community for 2014 show remuneration for its mayor was $30,777 with additional expenses totalling $4,160.

Its deputy mayor, meanwhile, was paid $15,581 with expenses totalling $2,638.

Remuneration paid to nine other council members ranged from $1,162 to $14,062 while expenses for councillors ranged from $419.22 to $6,239.

According to financial statements, Parksville’s CAO was paid $164,848 with additional expenses totalling $6,479 in 2014.

Leduc, Alta. has a population of 28,583.

Annual remuneration (including a cell phone allowance) there is $75,912 for the mayor and $35,872 for each of the six councillors.

The city manager is paid $247,647.

Okotoks, Alta., a town with a population of 26,319 in 2013, published a report available on its website showing its mayor was paid $72,492 with remuneration for councillors at $38,213 annually.

The report also compared remuneration for municipal councils around Alberta for communities with populations ranging from 12,317 in Canmore to 92,490 in Sherwood Park.

Camrose, with a population of 17,286, had the lowest compensation for mayor and council, with the mayor receiving $52,174 annually while councillors get $17,549.

Sherwood Park came in with the highest of the communities compared in the report, with the mayor’s remuneration set at $114,216 while councillor remuneration was listed at $63,528.

Canmore’s remuneration was listed at $72,412 for the mayor and $21,930 for councillors.

Salaries for city managers/chief administrative officers were not included in the report.

A number of other municipalities – including Nunavut’s capital of Iqaluit – were also contacted, but salary and remuneration amounts were not made available by press time this afternoon.

Most municipalities also have a number of benefits available to staff and council.

They range from health insurance plans to discounts on municipal transit to vehicle allowances to pension plans and others unique to the municipality.

In Whitehorse, there are dental, extended health, life insurance and the like in place for mayor and council.

City staff also have similar benefits in addition to an RRSP plan.

See letter.