When "Sunshine Lists" were first created, there was an almost prurient interest in reading the salaries and total compensation of our bosses. "That idiot got paid how much!" was the usual reaction, as we peered at the list in envy.

The first tranche of these lists was introduced in the mid-90s. The cut-off for the list was $100,000—a princely sum in those days. (BC and Manitoba are a bit lower).

Today, that minimum is woefully unhelpful. Thousands of employees and managers now surge past that standard. The lists today are not very useful, and it is almost a reversal of envy for some—"What do you mean, you didn't make the list?!"

Many employees are now included, perhaps because of overtime (outside workers plowing streets during a bad winter, for example), accumulated vacation pay, salary increases over many years, and so on.

It is perfectly reasonable to have public servant compensation available for public scrutiny. Many job openings now list a salary scale for that position. And frankly, attracting great talent requires an attractive pay package. As municipalities have become more complex to operate, the best management talent should be paid fairly, and so should dedicated workers.

Politicians are also included in some lists. For years, local council members in many—most?—Canadian municipalities were underpaid. Many council members were scared to bring in a fair salary for elected officials.

That was, and still is, wrong. Lots of Councils got themselves into trouble with the public when they would freeze their salaries for a few years in hopes of scoring some cheap political points, only to end up needing a massive pay hike which then drew snarky headlines and demands by smiling civic negotiating teams for the same percentage increase.

We need top talent in local government. Employees, administrators, and elected officials. We need a strong and effective workforce. We need smart talent. And that level of talent needs to be reasonably compensated, because they will more than pay for themselves.

The original idea of the Sunshine List was fine; today, it is out of touch and out of date. Surely a cut-off of $200,000, indexed annually, makes more sense.