Nelson city council spent 20 minutes debating proposed changes to their compensation and ultimately sent the issue back to staff for further review on Monday evening.
Both councillors Bob Adams and Robin Cherbo spoke out against the plan, while Paula Kiss expressed concern over how some of the phrasing could be interpreted.
The primary point of contention was a change to their clothing and technology allowance that would see it drop from $1,000 per year — for a $4,000 total over council’s next term — to $1,500 for the first year only. Cherbo and Adams questioned whether such a cut was fair and hypothesized that it would make things more difficult for future councillors.
“This is a huge cut,” said Adams, who added that quite often their travel allowance can’t cover the real costs of traveling. Cherbo echoed the sentiment.