Tamworth council approves 3 per cent increase to budget for mayor and councillor fees

The kitty used to pay Tamworth Regional Councillors will increase by $3235 after elected representatives voted to beef up their pay packages.

Councillor Brooke Southwell said the three per cent pay rise was an absolute necessity to "remunerate people fairly" and help more women and young people join the ranks.

"Better decision making is from a diversity of people," she said at a public meeting.

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"It's an absolute honour to be a councillor, but it does take a substantial amount of time and effort."

After you crunch the numbers, councillor Phil Betts said the hourly pay rate worked out to be less than $6 for councillors.

He said in the past he had voted against increases to councillor pay, but supported the rise as a "great investment" in the future of council.

"To encourage young people to get involved in local government I think this is necessary," he said.

The pay increase comes out of a recent recommendation from the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal.

But not everyone backed the cash boost.

Deputy mayor Mark Rodda said approving the increase would be a "bad look" to Tamworth ratepayers.

"Think about the optics of voting ourselves an increase in the current circumstances," he said to his fellow councillors.

Cr Rodda said they should stand in "solidarity", and "bear the brunt" of cost of living pressures with the community.

Fellow councillor Bede Burke hit back and suggested specific representatives could "opt out" of the increase if they weren't satisfied.

"I don't know an employee in Australia who will not accept a pay rise this year," Cr Burke said.

"Everyone's been under incredible cost pressures."

Councillors Burke and Judy Coates said they had never even claimed travel reimbursements, despite the kilometres they clock up across the region.

Mayor Russell Webb said if the council didn't try and create a more equitable environment, they would be "doing the community a disservice".

The money will be reallocated from the unrestricted cash pot into the mayoral and councillor annual fees budget for the next financial year.

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