At their August meeting SDG Counties Council dealt with a number of issues, including changes to their remuneration and the election of a new Warden. Tinkess Photo

CORNWALL – At their regularly scheduled meeting on Mon., Aug. 25, SDG Counties Council addressed the subject of remuneration for Council members.

A key information report prepared by staff explained, in terms of background, that each term of Council, Counties administration reviews the Council Remuneration & Conference By-law to ensure that it aligns with current policies and reflects best practices. A review of the by-law was completed and proposed updates were presented to Council at the meeting of July 21, 2025. Council provided feedback and based on that feedback further updates are now being presented for consideration.

There are several changes being considered. The first is the Annual honorariums paid to the respective members. The Warden’s honorarium is suggested as $52,518.44, compared to the current $41,951.48 (an increase of just over 25 per cent) of while the Councillor honorarium would be $22,014.39, compared to the current $15,633.42, (an increase of just under 41 per cent.) These amounts are based on the average rates from comparable Eastern Ontario Wardens Caucus (EOWC) municipalities.

There were other additional changes suggested:

  • Council Meeting Allowance – The half-day meeting rate option has been removed. The standard meeting rate remains in place.
  • CPI Policy – Honorarium and per diem rates will increase based on the SDG Counties Personnel Policy.
  • Conferences – Conference expenses for the Warden, Council and committee/board members (accommodation, transportation, meals) have been increased to $675 per day up to a maximum of $2,025. This does not include conference registration fees and per diems.
  • Warden’s Banquet – The amount for the Warden’s banquet has been updated to reflect the annual amount within the Council budget ($7,000). A portion of this budget is offset by ticket sales.

Honorarium amounts have remained unchanged since January 2019, when the federal government eliminated the one-third non-taxable allowance for elected officials. At that time, honorariums were slightly increased to help offset the impact of this change. Since then, annual adjustments for Council members have been made based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI.) The proposed honorarium amounts reflect average compensation levels across applicable EOWC municipalities. (Haliburton, Peterborough, Lanark, Lennox and Addington, Hastings, Frontenac, Northumberland, Leeds and Grenville, and Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry.)

Administration was seeking feedback on the proposed by-law updates, as well as any additional changes that Council may wish to consider.

Council seemed in agreement to the amounts being proposed, which would bring them to the average of the comparison communities, but there was some discussion as to when the change should take place.

Councillor Andrew Guindon (South Stormont) suggested the increase be delayed until the next term of Council, which would take place following the municipal elections held in November 2026. There was, however, little support for delaying the change.

Councillor Carma Williams (North Glengarry) said she couldn’t see any justification in delaying the change. “I think this is a fair compensation model that’s being put on the table today. This council is the one making these proposals, and it probably should be this council that adopts the proposal,” said Williams. “It’s a fair model, I don’t know why we would postpone it.”

Warden Martin Lang also indicated his agreement. “Being in the Warden’s Caucus, it lets me interact with a lot of Wardens right from Coburg, Kawartha Lakes, right through to the east,” said Warden Lang. “This council is, I think, as good or better than most, some are as functional, some dysfunctional… It’s a good bunch of people who do good work; I don’t have any problems or with us.

“My personal thought is that I wouldn’t want to leave this for the next council, added Warden Lang. But I think it’s, it’s a good time for us to see to it; we’re involved, we know what we’re doing. And now good time for us to make these decisions. And my personal thought is that it would take effect for next year. I don’t see a point in recognizing that the remuneration is too low and then wait almost two years before it gets fixed, I would say that’s what my personal thought was anyway.”

Based on the additional feedback gathered, Administration will return with a recommendation to adopt the new remuneration schedule at the September meeting, with Council confirming the implementation date at that time.