The Fiscal Stability Committee considering the original draft of principles (pictured).
Members of the Hamden Legislative Council’s Fiscal Stability Committee are looking to craft guidelines for future raises for the town’s contractual employees and supervisors in hopes of balancing the fiscal year 2022 budget.
The group met on Zoom Tuesday night ahead of a contentious fiscal year 2022 budget season.
The Fiscal Stability Committee includes representatives from council, the public and the town administration. The role of the committee is to review the accounts of all departments and officials town government with an eye to tackling the town’s precarious long-term finances.
Committee Chair Valerie Horsley shared a document called “General Principles for the FY22 Budget” with the other members at the virtual meeting. The document outlines a set of priorities that the committee will share with both the Legislative Council and the mayor’s administration ahead of debates over the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
The committee embraced the majority of the principles, as recommended by Town Finance Director Scott Jackson, ex-officio member of the committee.
The one matter of contention was item six. It initially read: “limit raises for department heads until positive fund balance is achieved (Supervisors increase?)” With the goal of cutting expenses in mind, the committee considered who should get a raise in a year of pandemic-related economic pressure as well as a negative fund balance for the town in fiscal year 2020.
Legislative Council President Mick McGarry said he is concerned that if supervisor salaries do not increase but unionized contractual employees continue to get raises, the employees will eventually make more than their supervisors.
“I think we should establish a structure where supervisors are available for a range,” McGarry said. “Either a range or 0 percent or 2 percent or something like that that the administration is compelled to address every year. Maybe we can include markers for performance and when the goals are met there can be an additional increase.”
Horsley said she did not get a salary raise this year in her job and acknowledged that many people in the community have lost their jobs this year.
“I really feel like it’s a statement to say that we as leaders in our community are willing to sacrifice, just like you are sacrificing when you get your taxes raised or services cut. I don’t like not getting a raise, but I didn’t get a say in it. I think we need to make sure as a council we decide … a policy going into the process,” Horsley said.
McGarry said he agrees with the decision to establish a policy before entering budget talks so it doesn’t seem like they are playing favorites when it comes to raises.
“We are not picking and choosing,” McGarry said. “We are saying this is the system.”
Committee Member Christian McNamara said it isn’t the right time to talk about raises.
“It’s a little difficult to even be discussing raises in the context of many of Hamden’s residents suffering job losses, wage reduction and tax increases on top of it,” McNamara said.
McNamara, director of the New Bagehot Project at the Yale Program on Financial Stability (YPFS), said he is supportive of a principle that would recognize the financial sacrifices that residents are already making while acknowledging that it is still important to hire the right people to work for Hamden.
“It could be that a relatively small investment and enhanced salary for a particularly dynamic leader could end up paying for itself a hundred fold if that person comes in and really revolutionizes things,” McNamara said.
The approved principles at meeting’s end, including revised item 6.
By the end of the discussion, the language of item six was rewritten.
“Administration and council will discuss and determine policy and raises for non-contractual salaries,” it now reads. “Administration could link this to performance/goals, etc; could be through ordinance.”
Legislative Council Member Berita Rowe-Lewis said that she is not in favor of raises at this time.
“We are in a very difficult situation here in Hamden. We have to put some structure in place first thing and then make sure we are doing things correctly,” Rowe-Lewis said. “We can’t explain this to our customers, our voters. We cannot say we have to give someone a raise but at the same time we are going to jock up your mill rates a little more. We have to really think this through correctly.”
Mayor Curt Leng praised the “thoughtful, cooperative” work of the Fiscal Stability Committee and its “sound recommendations” that he anticipates including in his upcoming budget proposal.
“As to the specific question of salary increases, 95% plus of all salaries are contained within union agreements, and outside of those I’m carefully reviewing them within the overall context of the budget. What I can say with confidence is that the goal is global reduction of expenses as a budget principle,” Leng added.
How about cutting the Mayor's salary and the salaries of the people who do his bidding in his office? Mayor Leng has been taking home $120,000 a year for almost six years.
As I wrote about Mayor Leng previously, half a job for Hamden deserves half a salary: https://www.nhregister.com/opinion/article/Opinion-Half-a-job-for-Hamden-deserves-half-a-15285951.
A new mayor can work for a lower salary, for sure. And, as I've said before, if I'm elected mayor, I'll donate my entire salary for school supplies.
Ann M. Altman Ph.D.