Cobourg Council Debates Raises
By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Remuneration rates for the next council have been set, to take effect next December – after the 2026 municipal elections.
A staff report recommended compensation equal to the 75th percentile of the 2025 base of comparator municipalities plus a $150 per diem for each member of council for unscheduled special and emergency council meetings, with all other current forms of remuneration to remain the same.
This would make the annual pay $88,793 for Mayor (a 32% increase from $56,527), $38,710 for Deputy Mayor (no percentage increase) and $39,394 for Councillors (a 6% increase, up from $33,367).
Councillor Randy Barber said that they are receiving 50 cents an hour over the Ontario minimum wage.
“I think it’s an opportunity to correct something that’s probably been going on too long,” he said, putting forward an amendment to raise the mayor to $88,793 (still the 75th percentile), the Deputy Mayor to $47,901 (an internal differential of 46%) and Councillors to $40,231 (internal differential of 6%) with the $150 per diem remaining. The motion passed.
Mayor Lucas Cleveland added an amendment that remuneration for council members who serve on the Cobourg Police Services Board – which had been discontinued – be reinstated. This would rise to $11,466, as the amount is pegged to council salaries. The amendment passed.
