Move over, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, you actually were not the highest paid chief magistrate in Canada last year. That dubious honour appears to belong to Markham’s Frank Scarpitti.

A citizens group says it's “outrageous” that Mayor Scarpitti's latest raise, which took effect a week ago, was dealt with, debated and passed secretly by city council last April. That secret vote also gave him a retroactive raise for 2013 and one in 2014.

Scarpitti earned $211,603.11 in 2014, according to Markham staff, including his pay for sitting on York Region council. Calgary’s Nenshi earned $208,459.

“How can the mayor of a city the size of Markham, with (about) 340,000 residents, make that much more than the premier of Ontario (who made $209,385 in 2014) and the mayors of cities across Canada, even Toronto and Montreal?” said Eileen Liasi, co-founder of the Markham Citizens Coalition for Responsive Government.

“I am furious about it,” she said.

The provincial sunshine list, which lists Ontario public employees who earn more than $100,000 a year, lists Scarpitti as earning $230,234 in 2014.

But Scarpitti told the Star Tuesday that the number is incorrect because of a calculating error made by Markham staff. Town staff confirmed the error Wednesday and said the province will be notified.

“Recognizing the sunshine list is a snapshot at a point in time, apparently Calgary council has approved a 3.8 per cent increase, taking the mayor’s salary from $208,000 to $216,000 for 2015,” Scarpitti pointed out in an email.

In 2014, Scarpitti's salary was higher than the salaries earned by mayors in cities much larger than Markham: Toronto, $178,884; Montreal, $160,997; Vancouver, $154,346; Edmonton, $169,681; Winnipeg, $178,114; Ottawa, $168,687; and Brampton, $198,990.

On top of Scarpitti’s municipal and regional earnings and taxable benefits, he made an additional $28,000 in 2014 for sitting on two municipal boards: PowerStream and Markham District Energy Corporation.

Liasi said the citizens coalition is angry over not only the size of Scarpitti’s income but how it was increased.

“Where else do elected council members decide how much they're going to pay themselves without any public input? How can they do this in camera, away from the public? It's our money they're giving to themselves, and this mayor doesn't even want us to know anything about it,” she said.

City councils are permitted to hold in camera, or closed-door, meetings under specific circumstances: to protect the privacy of individuals, and items involving labour relations, or the interests of the municipal corporation in matters such as legal action taken against a municipality.

In Ontario, municipal politicians set their own salaries, with no rules about the method for doing so.

But it’s unusual for councillor salaries to be dealt with in camera, as it offers no opportunity for public comment. Markham councillors approved their increases during the in camera session of the April 8, 2014, council meeting. The motion to raise politicians’ salaries was lumped in with a proposed salary increase for non-union staff.

At last April’s meeting, councillors approved a retroactive 1.5 per cent raise for 2013, a 1.9 per cent raise for 2014 and a further 1.9 per cent raise, effective April 1, 2015.

Scarpitti’s remuneration of $211,603.11 in 2014 was up by 13 per cent from the $186,838 he earned the year before.

Markham staff said the sharp increase was the result of a “retroactive adjustment paid in 2014 and a 2014 economic adjustment for both the region and the city which were both paid in 2014.” They said it was also because of a calendar quirk that gave staff an extra bi-weekly payment in 2014, and adjustments to the “methodology” for calculating benefits.

Scott Hennig, a vice-president with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, says municipal councils need to have the support of taxpayers when setting their remuneration.

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“The bottom line is, you have to have the public onside,” Hennig said.

Brampton Mayor Linda Jeffrey immediately cut her salary by about $50,000 when she took office in December, after voters there expressed outrage over former mayor Susan Fennell's remuneration, which in 2012 made her the highest-paid mayor in Canada at $213,727, not including benefits. Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman also cut his salary for 2015 by about $12,000, shortly after winning his seat last year.

Scarpitti did not say whether he would cut his compensation.

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