Discussion continues in New Ipswich centered around whether to increase police salaries significantly, to bring them closer in line with state averages.
The Select Board took up the discussion of police salaries during its Tuesday meeting, a continuation of the same conversation from last week’s meeting, but the board wasn’t able to reach a consensus, again tabling the discussion to continue next week.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Select Board member John Veeser said he was ready to back a $40,000 increase in the currently proposed police department salary line, to bring up New Ipswich officer’s salaries.
The current proposed budget for the police department salaries for 2021 is approximately $406,000, which provides a 3 percent increase from last year, to be awarded to officers based on merit and their annual review. Veeser said he would support that number increasing to $446,000.
The board discussed the matter with state averages of $37,080 yearly salary for a new cadet, $54,282 for an officer with three years of experience, $58,229 for five years of experience and $98,432 for a police chief. The $40,000 increase represents the approximate difference between New Ipswich’s salaries and state average for it full department.
Veeser said the new number would allow for the town to bring officer salaries up to par, as well as giving Police Chief Tim Carpenter leeway to replace currently open positions with an experienced officer, rather than an officer freshly graduated from the academy, saying he didn’t want to “tie his hands” by only funding the position at the minimum level.
Veeser did not recommend an employee-by-employee breakdown of how the funds should be divided among the department’s employees, saying it would be up to the police chief’s discretion based upon average salaries for their experience level.
Ultimately, the board did not make a final decision on the matter, and agreed to further review average salaries in the state and return to the discussion during its next scheduled meeting Tuesday.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.