The total cost for salaries for North Bay City Council members was just over $341,000 in 2019. Add in nearly $24,000 in fringe benefits and almost $21,000 in reimbursable expenses and the mayor plus 10 elected councillors accounted for approximately $385,000 in local expenditures.
Mayor Al McDonald received over $68,000 in salary, just over $10,000 in benefits, and was reimbursed for expenses slightly less than $2,000.
All the councillors received close to $27,000 in base salary, while Deputy Mayor Tanya Vrebosch earned just over $30,500 in pay.
The Municipal Act requires the treasurer of a municipality to provide a yearly itemized statement on remuneration and expenses paid in the previous year to members of council and for council appointments to boards and other bodies.
City of North BayA couple of local councillors have noticeably larger totals due to their work on behalf of the city with other boards and organizations. Included in the report is money received from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA), District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board (DNSSAB), and the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM).
Councillor Bill Vrebosch is involved with AMO/ROMA and DNSSAB, earning himself an additional $5,000 in honorariums.
And, Councillor Mac Bain sat on all three bodies listed in 2019. Bain brought in an additional $14,000 over and above his councillor pay. He was also reimbursed for over $16,000 in expenses. Bain was named FONOM’s Executive of the Year for 2019 and was appointed as the federation's executive director, in March. Bain said he will not be seeking another two-year stint representing the Northern Caucus with the AMO board when his two-year term expires in August.
Bain said during Tuesday's streamed meeting, "While others get anxious when these reports are presented to council across the province, I believe this is required sharing for honorariums and remunerations."
In regards to his expense report, Bain said, "The funding of over $20,000, which represents over 30 different meetings across the north, Toronto and Ottawa is provided," by the Northern Development and Mines Ministry.
Bain explained FONOM and NOMA (Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association) have been historically been funded with $50,000 each to advocate on the behalf of northern municipalities. Bain pointed to the provincial blue box transition and the recent announcement of the placement of the ONTC under the umbrella of the MTO as highlights of their work.
Councillor Marcus Tignanelli had by far the biggest expense number, topping the $7,000 mark. Next was Tanya Vrebosch with $3,700.
Councillors Mike Anthony and Scott Robertson did not put in for any reimbursable expenses in 2019.
