Milton councillors' base salary rises $5,001 for the term that starts November 15; the mayor's pay is unchanged

What Council decided

At its July 13, 2026 meeting, Milton Council approved increasing the base annual salary for the position of councillor by $5,001, effective November 15, 2026, and updated the Council Expense Policy, including a $300 increase in the annual Town Councillor expense allowance. The resolution carried, according to the meeting's minutes. The change takes effect with the term of Council that begins after the October 26 municipal election.

How the amount was set

Under a Council Compensation policy adopted in 2014, the Town reviews Council pay once a term, in the final year of the term, and sets it at the 50th percentile of a group of comparable municipalities. Between reviews, Council salaries move with the annual economic adjustment applied to non-union Town staff. The report says the last adjustment outside those annual increases took effect in November 2022.

Human Resources staff surveyed Ajax, Burlington, Cambridge, Halton Hills, Newmarket, Oakville, Oshawa, Richmond Hill, Waterloo and Whitby, the same lower-tier municipalities the Town uses for non-union pay reviews; nine responded. Because the mayor's current salary was within 0.35 per cent of the comparator median, staff recommended leaving it unchanged.

Expenses and benefits

Comparator councillor expense allocations ranged from about $1,500 to more than $10,000 a year, the report says, though some municipalities include conferences in those budgets and Milton funds them separately. Staff also noted that Council collectively spent less than $1,000 a year in expenses from 2023 through 2025, and recommended an allowance at the lower end of the comparator range. Benefits were left unchanged because the Town's plan, which mirrors the non-union staff plan and is largely paid by the Town, matched the comparators.

• The updated expense policy references the Code of Conduct for Council Members and applicable legislation.
• It updates eligible technology, adds examples such as constituent communications and meeting-room bookings, and revises mileage, 407 ETR and conference language to match current practice.
• It adds a Mayor Expense section to reflect existing practice.