Halifax councillors and the mayor are getting a 3.6% pay increase.

Mayor Mike Savage will move from $190,072.43 to $196,915.03. Deputy Mayor Sam Austin will move from $101,483.89 to $105,137.31. And councillors will move from $92,258.09 to $95,579.38.

The new remuneration for council was posted to the municipality’s website on Monday. The salaries, effective Nov. 1, 2022, are calculated based on Nova Scotia’s average weekly earnings, as reported by Statistics Canada. Those earnings rose 3.6% year over year from September 2021 to September 2022.

This is the first increase since 2019, when councillors got a 4.43% raise. In 2020 and 2021, council voted to suspend its raises, citing the pandemic and resulting cuts to city services. In 2020, Savage also vowed to forego or donate 20% of his salary.

Zane Woodford is the Halifax Examiner’s municipal reporter. He covers Halifax City Hall and contributes to our ongoing PRICED OUT housing series. Twitter @zwoodford

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