Brampton’s Susan Fennell, now the highest paid mayor in Canada, enjoyed an average annual double-digit-percentage hike in her city pay between 2006 and 2012. But some councillors who approved the increase now say it was a mistake.

Fennell’s City of Brampton salary, according to a compensation report presented to council in October, was $90,226 at the start of 2006. (City staff did not clarify whether this includes an RRSP contribution.) A report presented to council this week stated her 2012 salary was $162,839, a sum that includes an RRSP contribution but not the cost of benefits. She does not pay taxes on one-third of her base salary.

Combined with her $50,888 salary for serving on the Region of Peel council in 2012, that made her Canada’s highest paid mayor in 2012, earning $213,727 in addition to benefits and perks such as a car allowance and driver. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford earned $172,803 in 2012, while former premier Dalton McGuinty’s salary was $209,000.

Fennell did not respond to a request for comment on complaints from residents that the hike was unjustified.

Like the mayor, all of Brampton councillors’ pay was determined by a citizens committee, which recommended the level of compensation. Councillors saw their salaries rise by about 55 per cent over the same six-year period, from $49,720 in 2006 to $78,642 in 2012.

The increases continued through a recession when municipal councils across the country were under pressure to set an example. Some, including the mayors of Edmonton and Toronto, voluntarily refused a raise they were entitled to receive.

Councillor Elaine Moore says the formula used to determine pay increases isn’t working, and council has to take responsibility. “If this approach has put our salaries out of whack with our colleagues in similarly sized municipalities, then we need to do a serious re-think of our decision.”

Councillor John Sprovieri agrees. “Maybe the formula was flawed,” he said, saying that Fennell’s position as Canada’s top-paid mayor is unacceptable.

“I don’t think anyone can justify how the mayor of half a million people can make that much more than the mayor of two million people or the premier of Ontario.”

But John Corbett, the city’s chief administrative officer, said in a statement that he stands behind the use of the citizen committee. “This group confirmed that the wage progression process is competitive with other big city municipalities and reflects the value of work councillors perform,” he said, adding that he took the extra step of getting an outside opinion to verify that.

“It is my observation that holding political office at any level is a very difficult profession,” he added. “Like their private-sector peer group, they need and deserve to be compensated appropriately.”

Fennell’s 2012 combined city-region compensation, including benefits, was $245,833, which did not include her $23,524 car allowance or the $45,726 Brampton taxpayers spent for her driver.

Council also recently gave itself a 50 per cent increase in its severance pay, from a maximum of 12 months’ pay to 18 months. That means that on departure, Fennell would receive an additional $81,000 if her RRSP income was factored in.

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While the committee recommended 18 months’ pay, it said an independent consultant found the average among 17 municipalities it surveyed was just 5 ½ months.

“Residents are getting really frustrated,” said Dr. Adil Shamji, one of dozens of Brampton residents who contacted the Star about the salary issue. “The mayor of the ninth largest city in Canada earning the highest salary is inexplicable. The increases she accepted show a continued pattern of entitlement, and many residents feel if city hall can’t make her accountable, maybe we need to go to a higher level of government.”

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