Here's how much Windsor city council gets paid — and how much the mayor spent on travel

How much does Windsor city council get paid?

Each year, the city finance department lays it out in a report titled Statement of Remuneration and Expenses. Department officials will present the report for 2022 at the city's next council meeting on March 20.

Here's a look at the salaries and benefits in that report:

$209,077.06

That was Mayor Drew Dilkens's annual salary in 2022. He made $199,168.06 plus $9,909.00 in taxable benefits.

The most recent complete data for Ontario's sunshine list is 2021. But totals that year showed Dilkens was the second-highest paid mayor in the province.

Here's how they measured up in 2021:

• Frank Scarpitti, Markham: $253,416.

• Dilkens: $199,203.92.

• John Tory, Toronto: $197,316.08.

• Maurizio Bevilacqua, Vaughan: $194,119.58.

• Fred Eisenberger, Hamilton: $193,621.09.

$47,819.38

That was the annual salary of a Windsor city councillor in 2022, including taxable benefits.

Some weren't in office for the whole year. There was a municipal election on Oct. 24. Sitting councillors Rino Bortolin, Jeewin Gill and Chris Holt either unsuccessfully ran for office or didn't run again. They made $41,491.60 until the new council took over later that year.

Overall, councillors don't make much more than the average income of a Windsorite. Statistics Canada says the average income of a one-person household in 2020 was $41,600.

$23,862.29

That's how much the city spent to send Dilkens on eight trips last year to represent the city, including three overseas.

For example, Dilkens visited Dongshin Motech's factories in Seoul, South Korea in late 2022. His seven-day visit cost $7,283.53.

He also visited Wroclaw, Poland and Munich, Germany to visit gigafactories, like the one planned to open in Windsor in 2024. That trip cost $5,889.13.

While on his trip in Europe, Dilkens also met partners from Dongshin Motech to plan a $60-million electric vehicle battery plant near Windsor Airport. That plant is scheduled to open next year and will employ about 2,500 people.

Not all of the trips went as planned. Dilkens had a ticket to the Consumer Electronics Show (or CES 2022) in Las Vegas last January. He was unable to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions. The trip cost $947.63.

On the smaller scale, Dilkens spent the day in Warren, Mich., in May to speak about the Ambassador Bridge. That trip cost $39.45.

He also took two trips to Ottawa related to the fallout of the Ambassador Bridge blockade last year. He went to the Federal Public Emergency Commission from Nov. 5 to Nov. 8 in Gatineau, Que. and Ottawa. That trip cost $2,598.93.

From Nov. 23 to 25, he was back in Ottawa for the Senate and Parliamentary Committee, which cost $2,095.21.