On Monday, Kelowna’s current council will be one again considering further changes to extended health benefits and pay for the 2022-2026 council term.
On Mar. 14, council directed staff to bring forward amendments to clarify the current provisions in the bylaw.
During last month’s meeting, Councillor Hodge said that most other jobs have benefits packages for all employees and he was surprised that the benefits were not there and thinks this decision was long overdue.
During the same meeting, Councillor Stack said that the benefit package should be available for all council members – particularly for the mayor, who is a full time employee.
He added that many members on council may have benefits available through other employment positions but some just didn’t have that opportunity.
In the report that will be presented this Monday, the changes to the bylaw aim to align the remuneration with “best practices and the core principles of reflecting and compensating elected officials for the time needed to perform their duties.”
The benefits would include extended health, dental, life and would be available to all members of council and their dependents.
The estimated cost would be about $50,000 if all members chose to make use of the optional benefit package.
Proposed text amendments clarify that all members of council will be able to participate in the benefit package with the premiums paid for by the city. They can choose to enter into the plan in its entirety or they can choose not to.
The benefits are also meant to reduce barriers to participation as an elected official.
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