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“This is a common practice in other jurisdictions across Canada,” Hill said. “I think as the city grows and responsibilities change and the positions are considered full-time positions, then it can be revisited.”

The mayor’s salary in 2015 was $121,436.10. Councillors were paid $54,646.25. The mayor’s annual communications allowance is $100,000 while each councillor can spend $10,000 annually. The mayor’s position is considered a full-time job while councillor positions are considered part-time.

The report states the idea behind the tax exemption for one-third of salaries is essentially that it’s compensation for expenses such as donations or tickets purchased in support of community organizations and events.

Hill said the mayor and councillors will need to be reimbursed for those expenses if the tax exemption is removed because of the high number of events and organizations the mayor and councillors support in that way.

As the commission pointed out in the report, the provincial government would have to change the Cities Act to give municipalities a choice to tax remuneration for mayors and councillors.

The commission also recommends disallowing the mayor and councillors from spending their communications allowances between Sept. 1 and Oct. 31 in election years, and disallowing the use of any goods or services bought with the allowance — such as a website domain or billboards — during the election period.

Another recommendation is to institute third-party reviews of allowances every two years.

The communications allowances for the mayor and councillors should be renamed and modified to improve transparency, the commission recommends. Many of those recommendations are “housekeeping” changes meant to clarify and improve reporting procedures.

The report will now go to council’s governance and priorities committee for consideration.