De Salaberry council has approved a pay increase for council members.

Reeve Darrel Cure says they are compensating for the loss of a federal tax break, similar to what many other local municipalities are doing.

"We just kept it status quo," notes Cure, "we wanted every councillor to receive the same amount of indemnity they did before for the same amount of work."

The reeve will now make $11,189.16 annually and councillors $9,594.60. This comes out to an increase of about $1,500 per council member.

"I think ours is fair. We're certainly not the highest and I don't believe we're the lowest either but for the people we represent, I believe our indemnity is where we want to be," he adds.

Cure says the by-law was approved but by a vote of 5-2. He notes one of the councillors who was opposed, suggested the municipality should have something similar to the RM of Ritchot and formed a committee made up of residents to make recommendations on how much council members should be paid. Cure says the other councillor suggested council members should take the hit and take home less money.