As part of discussions on the failed budget for the office of the town manager, Waldoboro Town Manager Linda-Jean Briggs offered July 14 to keep her salary flat for the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
The budget for the office of the town manager was the only budget to fail at Waldoboro’s town meeting this year, and a revised budget will go before the voters at a referendum on Tuesday, Aug. 18.
Town officials and members of the public have discussed the issue at meetings in recent weeks and though a variety of reasons for the budget’s failure have been floated, keeping Briggs’ salary flat was one suggestion made to make the budget more palatable for voters.
The budget originally included a 3 percent raise for Briggs, the same as was proposed and (in most cases) voter-approved for non-unionized town personnel. Unionized personnel also received an average raise of 3 percent in the budget this year.
The proposed budget for the office of the town manager rejected at town meeting was $136,794, an increase of $5,708 or 4.3 percent over 2014-2015.
At the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen’s meeting July 14, Briggs proposed a budget of $134,707, an increase of $3,621 or 2.76 percent.
The change removes Briggs’ salary increase and associated benefit cost increases, but does keep 3 percent cost of living increases for the portions of two town employees included in the budget, Briggs said.
According to town officials, the budget provides for the town manager’s salary, 50 percent of the executive assistant/manager of information services’ salary, and 40 percent of the town office receptionist’s salary, among other costs such as benefits and travel expenses.
Vice Chair Ron Miller, who had previously suggested keeping Briggs’ salary flat until she renegotiated her contract, suggested limiting the salary increases for the other employees to 1 percent but only if that was applied to other town employees as well.
Briggs said she was not even sure her 3 percent raise was even at issue with the budget’s failure.
“I’m offering this as a way for this government to move forward,” Briggs said.
If the board reverses its decision to provide cost of living increases for the other personnel, “that isn’t showing value to your employees, and I don’t think that’s right,” she said.
The board voted 4-0 to approve the budget as Briggs proposed it, and the budget committee voted 6-1 to recommend it.
A special referendum town meeting to vote on the budget is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 18. A public hearing on the warrant will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at 6 p.m.
The selectmen’s regularly scheduled meeting for Tuesday, July 28 was canceled, and their Aug. 11 meeting will instead be held on Aug. 4.
