The District of West Vancouver‘s mayor and council have voted themselves double-digit pay raises.

At a council meeting Monday night, the politicians voted for Mayor Michael Smith’s pay to jump to $75,000 from $65,915, an increase of 11.66 per cent.

Councillors’ salaries will increase about 37 per cent to $30,000 from $21,972.

West Vancouver has for decades been listed as one of the wealthiest municipalities in Canada, with an average annual family income of $128,000.

But compared to other municipalities of the same size and budget, West Vancouver paid its mayor and councillors poorly, according to Mayor Michael Smith.

"We fell seriously behind where everybody else was," said Smith.

Councillor Bill Soprovich agrees.

"Our salary was less than half of the lowest of those in the Lower Mainland," Soprovich said.

Given the amount of time some councillors devote to the job, the remuneration can add up to about $16 an hour.

"I'm a mother of two small children and I have to pay to put one of my children in daycare now to do this job, so I'm not making anywhere near the $30,000 that we are talking about," said Councillor Nora Gambioli.