Leeton Shire Council will vote on Wednesday, May 24 on the fees for councillors, mayor

Council will meet on Wednesday night (May 24) where one of the matters before them is to fix the annual fees for councillors and the mayor for the 2023-24 financial year.

This year that amount is set to increase sizably after the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal reclassified Leeton Shire Council from a "rural" council to a "rural large" council.

The motion before council on Wednesday night is to set the annual fees for the 2023-24 financial year at the maximum amount allowable, being $17,680 per councillor and $37,925 for the Mayor.

The total allocation would be $197,045 if councillors vote in favour of the motion.

For councillors, this amount is $6317 more than they were paid in the 2022-23 financial year and a $13,120 increase for the mayoral role.

Last year councillors were paid $11,363 and the mayor received $24, 805. The Local Government Act 1993 requires the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal (LGRT) to report to the Minister for Local Government by May 1 each year on its determination of categories of councils and the maximum amounts of fees to be paid.

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The tribunal determined a 3 per cent per annum increase in the minimum and maximum fees applicable to each category, with Leeton's increase also due to the reclassification from "rural" to "rural large".

Typically, Leeton Shire Council will offer the maximum rate in its recommendation each year for councillors to vote on, but the motion can be changed if councillors wish to accept the minimum amount.

For Leeton that minimum amount is $9850 for councillors and $15,735 for the mayor.

Down the road, Griffith City Council has been categorised as a "regional rural council".

Its councillors and mayor will also vote on their fee Tuesday, May 23.

They will decide to either go for the minimum fee of $9850 per councillor or the maximum of $21,730. For their mayoral role the minimum is $20,980 or maximum $47,420.

Each council bases the decision on which way to go based on contributions councillors make throughout the year at meetings, briefing sessions, workshops, community representation and more.

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