City councillors have asked a consultant to review their pay. (CBC)Winnipeg city councillors could end up with a big pay increase to compensate for the loss of their tax-free salary benefit.

The governance committee at city hall voted Monday to hire an outside consultant to look at the issue.

Winnipeg's 15 councillors and the mayor receive one third of their salary tax free. Starting pay is about $64,000 a year but some committee chairs receive more than $82,000 and Mayor Sam Katz receives about $122,000 per annum — one third tax free.

Coun. Grant Nordman says cutting the tax free portion of their compensation package doesn't necessarily mean a pay cut for civic politicians. "If we are going to take something away your take home should not be affected by it," said Nordman. "Obviously if some benefit is removed there will have to be a complimentarty benefit added."

Nordman said Winnipeg councillors are underpaid compared with their provincial counterparts, but civic politicians are closer to the people. "There are 16 of us ... within the city government. All of us elected. This will sort of put us on the same footing as CUPE and the United Firefighters and all the folks we work with."

Nordman said compensation for city politicians hasn't been reviewed in 20 years. Some cities, including Vancouver and Calgary, elminated tax exemptions for elected officials but it remains in effect in other places such as Edmonton and Regina.

The consultant's report won't likely be ready until next fall.