At nearly $250K, Markham's Frank Scarpitti could be Canada's highest paid mayor

Yorkregion.com
March 30, 2018
Tim Kelly

Mayor Frank Scarpitti cost Markham taxpayers $323,500 in 2017, earning $248,783 in salary alone and claiming the rest in various types of benefits and expenses.

That nearly $250,000 in salary, which includes the mayor’s $55,874 regional council paycheque in addition to the $137,050 he gets for being head of Markham council, also takes in compensation for various boards and committees he sits on.

For instance, the mayor got $5,000 in 2017 for being on the board of Markham District Energy Inc. and $400 each time he attended its seven meetings for another $2,800.

He also made $1,292 for being on the board and subcommittee of Powerstream, and $650 for each of four meetings he attended for that energy company collecting another $2,600.

But the big payday came with 11 months at Alectra, the successor to Powerstream, where he earned $22,917 for being on its board and subcommittee, and another $1,250 per meeting for a further $21,250.

All those numbers add up to $248,783, which arguably could make Scarpitti Canada’s highest paid mayor.

He also accumulated $38,031 in benefits as mayor, a further $18,192 in what are known as discretionary expenses (including mileage, vehicle capitalization, 407 ETR fees, etc.), and $18,484 in what are called council-directed expenses, the bulk of which went to business missions — $15,690.

The final total: $323,500.