Hanover School Trustees have elected not to raise their yearly indemnity despite the loss of a federal tax break.

Finance Committee Chair Rick Peters explains that, up until now, all trustees enjoyed a tax break on one-third of their earnings. Though this benefit has been removed, the board still elected not to raise their compensation at a vote of 7-2.

“It was just a decision we made as trustees, recognizing that funds are tight,” states Peters. “We decided just to pay our taxes and take that cut.”

Meanwhile, Peters says compensation will still be raised slightly to coincide with the change in Winnipeg’s Consumer Price Index.

“Our bylaw states that we raise the indemnity by the amount that CPI was in Winnipeg for that year, which is 2.4 % for 2018.”

Peters says this raise is not significant and will only put an additional $25 in each trustees pocket every month.

“It’s not so much about the money," comments Peters, "because a trustee doesn’t take home a lot of money." 

Meanwhile, Hanover School Division’s Secretary-Treasurer, Kevin Heide, provided the following numbers as a glimpse into the change in yearly indemnities between 2018 and 2019.

                          2018             2019  
Chair               $14,083         $14,421
Vice Chair       $11,917         $12,203
Trustee           $10,833         $11,093