The Wilton Select Board is discussing how to address employee raises, and what balance to strike between a cost-of-living increase and merit-based raises.
On Monday, board members discussed a possible across-the-board COLA increase of up to 5 percent, a number not wholly supported by the board members. Comparatively, the COLA adjustment for Social Security benefits for the coming year is expected to be 8.7 percent, and Town Administrator Nick Germain pointed out that many of the town’s employees are being pressured by rising daily costs and inflation.
Select Board member DJ Garcia said he favored some increase, but 5 percent was too high, considering employees received a similar increase the previous year. He pointed out that all taxpayers are feeling the same inflation pressures.
“I don’t believe 5 percent is the way we should be going,” Garcia said. “Ten percent is a lot over two years.”
Select Board member Matt Fish disagreed, saying it was important for employee retention and to see them taken care of.
The board also discussed what portion of employee increases should be a flat COLA adjustment, and what should be attributed to performance and merit-based increases. Fish pointed out the town has been inconsistent in the past with how it addressed that issue, and needs to standardize a system, a point the board as a whole agreed with.
Germain agreed the system needed to be standardized, and then adhered to going forward.
“Whatever ends up happening, we need to pick a format to do this, and be consistent,” he said.
The board directed Germain to research several potential models for a merit-based raise system for review at a future work session.
In a separate issue, board members voted to apply excess funds in the Fire Department budget to replace worn-out fire hose.
Fire Chief Don Nourse spoke about recent testing of the department’s 11,300 feet of fire hoses. About 1,100 feet of the hose failed to meet standard.
The majority of the hose that failed testing is the four-inch hose, which is a large-diameter water-supply hose. There were also issues with the hoses carried by firefighters when attacking fires, but on a far smaller scale than the supply hoses, Nourse said.
The large-diameter hose is the most-expensive to replace, Nourse said, and the cost has risen over the last year. Last year, 100 feet of four-inch hose cost about $465. This year, the same amount is $579.
Nourse proposed replacing 1,000 feet of hose, plus ordering two shorter pieces that can connect to hydrants, including two 50-feet pieces and two 25-feet pieces. The total estimated cost for replacing the lines is about $7,000.
Nourse did not have the funds for the replacement in his equipment budget, but said the stipend line for the current year was underspent by about $20,000, due to unfilled positions. The board approved the transfer of funds and then approved the expense for the new hose.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. S he’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.