Council To Consider Salary Freeze

June 11, 2009 by Josh Morgan

The Town Council approved a new contract for the town clerk Tuesday night, but entered into a longer discussion about whether raises should be frozen for Town employees at this time.
On June 9, the Council, by a 7-1 vote, approved a new contract for Town Clerk Carolyn Soltis that included a 0 percent raise this year and a 3.5 percent increase the following year. Democratic Councilor and Personnel Committee Chairman Matt Altieri said the zero increase was “not reflective on job performance,” but rather was based on the current economic climate. He hoped the economy would rebound next year and the 3.5 percent increase “reflects that.”
Soltis said since she is an elected official and does not report to the town manager, she is ineligible for longevity pay, bonuses, and merit increases. She explained that she started at the same time as the tax assessor and there was a $5,000 difference in salaries then and now, it is closer to $12,000.
“All I seek is an increase that other departments are getting,” Soltis said. “One department head makes less than me, and I’ve been here 16 years.”
Her salary will remain the same this year and will increase by roughly $2,300 next year to $68,975. Republican Councilor James Sima was the lone Councilor to vote against the resolution.
Before the vote, the conversation turned away from Soltis and the spotlight was put on Town department heads who would be eligible to receive increases this year. Republican Councilor Tom Ruocco said he was “pushing for a salary freeze” and the decision was “not an easy one.” He said the “noble efforts” of Town Manager Michael Milone and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Greg Florio to voluntarily freeze their salaries was “inconsequential,” and the Town still needed to “curb labor costs for the next fiscal year.”
“This is not an isolated effort, but a policy statement,” Ruocco said. “There needs to be a commitment or a desire from the Council to impose a salary freeze. We should direct the town manager to impose a freeze for department heads.”
Altieri explained the Council has very little say in controlling salaries and there were “only a few places,” such as the town clerk and town manager, where it had “direct say.” Altieri assured the Council that the Personnel Committee would discuss the matter at its next meeting.
Republican Councilor Tim White said he was “still scratching” his head at raises of 5 percent to 7 percent that were given out earlier this year. He said everyone knew last July that “things were bad.”
The Town is currently in negotiations with its unions on new contracts and Milone explained that no raises have been given out for the 2009/2010 fiscal year. However, when establishing the budget, a 1.4 increase was spread out across the departments, but Milone said it “remains to be seen what will happen” with the salaries.
Ruocco said only a few salary freezes wouldn’t make a difference in the budget and was unfair to the employees who didn’t receive increases, but he vowed to try and push the matter forward.
“For three people to take freezes is very unfair and that’s not what I want to do,” Ruocco said. “We need a starting point to make this statement and it’s a tough stance to take, but I’m taking it.”