The battle over a controversial travel allowance for 91原创 Township councillors was reopened Monday when Councillors Kim Richter and David Davis tried to convince the rest of council to cancel it, or at least have the whole idea reviewed by a tax expert.

Most members of council have opted out, with Mayor Jack Froese declining his $850 a month allowance and Richter, Davis, Charlie Fox, Bob Long and Michelle Sparrow turning down their $340 a month allowance.

Sparrow did not disclose her decision until Monday night, when she was asked by The Times.

鈥淚 choose at this time not to accept the the travel allowance,鈥� Sparrow said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate that it鈥檚 become a chance to gain political points.鈥�

Councillors Bev Dornan, Steve Ferguson and Grant Ward have accepted the allowance, and Ferguson has said he will donate the money to charity.

Richter, with support from Davis, called on council to do away with the allowance altogether.

鈥淚f a majority of council isn鈥檛 taking it, why do we even have it?鈥� Richter asked.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make sense.鈥�

Davis said the allowance amounts to another pay hike, less than a year after the mayor鈥檚 annual salary went up by 12.6 per cent and councillor pay rates rose by 19 per cent following several years of no raises.

鈥淵ou can call it what you want,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淎 car allowance, a travel allowance, it鈥檚 a raise.鈥�

Richter and Davis also called on council to hire an outside tax expert to review the decision to implement a travel allowance when council members already get a third of their income tax-free to help cover expenses.

鈥淢y concern is, are we seen to be double-dipping if we do both?鈥� Richter said.

The proposal to have the allowance reviewed by an outside expert failed on a tie vote, with Richter, Davis, Sparrow and Fox in favour, while Mayor Froese and Councillors Dornan, Ferguson, and Ward were opposed. Councillor Bob Long was absent.

The vote on eliminating the allowance wasn鈥檛 as close, with Mayor Froese and Councillors Dornan, Ferguson, Fox, Sparrow and Ward voting no, while only Richter and Davis were in favour.

Ward said the allowance was recommended by an independent task force set up to find a fair way of compensating Township councillors.

鈥淚f they say that we should (have a travel allowance), then I鈥檓 going to take their advice and carry on,鈥� Ward said.

Ward complained that Richter was trying to 鈥渢hrow council under the bus鈥� by resurrecting the compensation debate.

Councillor Ferguson said Township residents shouldn鈥檛 think their council is excessively well-paid compared to other municipal councils.

鈥淲e aren鈥檛 the highest paid folks,鈥� Ferguson said. 鈥淲e are about in the middle of the pack.鈥�

The issue will be raised again at the next meeting of council.

Richter served notice she will call on council to agree that members should receive either the travel allowance or the tax-free expense allowance, but not both.

A Revenue Canada interpretation bulletin issued in 1976 (IT-292) states elected municipal officials can avoid paying taxes on up to a third of their annual salary by declaring it to be an 鈥渆xpense allowance鈥� which includes 鈥渕ileage or other traveling allowance.鈥�

The $340 a month travel allowance adds $4,080 to a councilor鈥檚 annual salary of $42,936, an increase of 9.5 per cent.

The mayor鈥檚 proposed travel allowance would have added $10,200 on top of his salary of $105,456, an increase of 9.7 per cent.

A staff memo to council notes the travel allowance is a taxable benefit that will be reported on a councillor鈥檚 T4.

Councillors will get no salary increase as such this year, after voting to scale back the increases recommended by the task force.