POLAND — The Select Board on Tuesday looked at wages for 29 employees, what it would cost to make them equitable with seven other municipalities and the impact it could have on property taxes.
A spreadsheet shown at the Zoom meeting showed the rate of pay for each town position listed, the proposed equitable pay rate and the percent increase between the two numbers.
Depending on the job, the increase was between 2.01% and 39.35%, with most in the mid-20%.
The difference between current and proposed wages for the 29 jobs is $212,824, or about 22.26%.
The spreadsheet was produced by board Chairperson Steven Robinson and Deputy Town Manager Nikki Pratt. It was based on a wage study done by Betsy Oulton of HR Maine Consulting and presented to the board at its Oct. 5 meeting. The study compared Poland’s pay scale to those in Auburn, Casco, Lisbon, Mechanic Falls, Raymond, Sabattus and Turner.
Oulton said the difference is due to several factors, the major one being the town not providing an annual cost-of-living increase.
Pratt said the figures in the study went back 15 years. The town has recently included cost-of-living increases in the budget. End-of-year bonuses were paid to employees instead of cost-of-living increases for several years, or no cost-of-living increases at all, she said.
Seeing how much the increases could affect the property tax rate, Selectperson Jane Pentheny called it “incredible sticker shock.”
Robinson added, “It will be hard to justify,” but they need to catch up to make the pay scale equitable.
Town Manager Matt Garside suggested the town could use some of the $3.5 million in the fund balance to help offset the rising costs, and maybe the board could work up some scenarios.
But Pentheny said a property revaluation will soon be done and concern should be given to how much a taxpayer can take.
Robinson and Selectperson Stan Tetenman said they believe the fund balance should be left alone. The town must face real tax consequences and be fully transparent with the costs associated with pay equity, they said.
Budget Committee member Janice Kimball said she is “not buying the whole story” with the wage study.
She said while she was employed by the city of Portland it also hired a firm to do an equity pay study and “no way did it implement the total recommendation.”
Oulton countered that trends in municipal employment are so different now and it’s amazing how far behind a municipality can fall without including an annual cost-of-living pay increase.
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