Those pondering seeking a seat in the October municipal election may get some financial encouragement next week if council members vote in favour of a raise for members of the next city government.

At Tuesday evening's city council meeting, city staff brought forward a recommendation that council move ahead with a bylaw that would give the next mayor and councillors a raise in pay. It would correspond with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) average each year of the three-year term.

"I believe this would be fair and it would keep it current," Mayor Bev Buckway said after being presented with the administrative report on the matter.

Looking at the past three years, the CPI in Whitehorse rose 2.5 per cent in 2007, 3.6 per cent in 2008 and 0.3 per cent so far in 2009, making the average 2.13 per cent. That is what staff are proposing as the annual remuneration for council members.

For the mayor, who currently makes $72,500, that would translate into a new annual salary of $74,000 this year following the election, $75,500 in 2010 and $77,000 in 2011.

Meanwhile, councillors who now receive an honorarium of $17,500 would see that jump to $18,000 following the election, $18,500 in 2010 and $19,000 in 2011.

"It could be viewed by the public as giving ourselves a raise, but I guess that's why we do it at the end of the term so the new council coming in isn't perceived as giving themselves a raise," Buckway explained.

The previous city council also approved the current pay for council members in 2006 just before that election.

It saw the mayor's salary jump from $66,800 to $72,500 and council members' honoraria climb from $13,363 to $17,500 after an elected official compensation committee looked at the issue. Prior to that, council's pay had not risen since 1997.

As it was noted in the report presented last night by Rob Fendrick, the city's director of administrative services, the compensation committee made other findings.

"It was the conclusion of the elected official compensation committee that administration should present to council options for a council remuneration model that would be appropriate to reflect both the demanding

nature and responsibilities of public office, as well as to ongoingly attract and retain capable candidates from all walks of life."

Coun. Jeanine Myhre suggested the increase could bring in those with a lower income, something she said is missing from council chambers right now.

"The most important thing, I think, is it encourages people who make less income to consider running for council," she said, after noting that initially she had wondered why council would need a raise.

While Coun. Dave Stockdale agreed with the raise corresponding to the CPI, he suggested it shouldn't increase each year for councillors.

"I never believed this was a job," he said. "It's an avocation. I looked up the word 'avocation' in the Oxford Concise Dictionary and it says, 'a distraction'. So council is a distraction or a minor occupation.

"It's not a job. It's not wages that we're working for here; we're giving back to the community as well as doing some work that we're being remunerated for."

With that, he brought forward a proposal that would see the councillors' honoraria increase in accordance with the 2.13 per cent CPI average once and remain the same throughout the term.

Before the election following the next council's term, he said, another three-year CPI average could be added to the councillors' remuneration once again.

An annual increase, he said, could see councillors making $30,000 a year "before you know it", but enriching it for the start of a new term would keep it fair and in line with the cost of living without "ballooning out of shape".

At the same time, though, Stockdale said he believes the full-time mayor should receive an annual increase to his or her salary.

"It's a different position than ours; it's a wage," he said, adding a mayor has chosen an occupation and likely left behind another for the position.

Stockdale encouraged his fellow council members to think his idea over before next week, when council votes on the increase. At that time, he may bring forward his idea as a formal amendment.

Stockdale also acknowledged he is in a favourable financial position, benefiting from a pension plan from his teaching career, CPP payouts, old age security and other programs for seniors.

"It's a good time to be a senior in Canada and in Whitehorse it's even better," he said.

While city staff also looked at another option based on weekly earnings, they favoured the CPI formula in achieving the goals of:

• attracting and retaining capable candidates from all walks of life;

• providing adequate compensation to reflect the increasingly demanding nature and responsibilities of being on council; and

• providing a model that triggers small, incremental raises and avoids council bringing in large "catch-up" increases that happened in the past.

Councillors Dave Austin and Jan Stick were absent from Tuesday's meeting.