FARMINGTON — Selectmen on Tuesday, Dec. 14, approved a 7.3% cost of living adjustment (COLA) for employees in 2022.
The adjustment was initially discussed at the Nov. 23 meeting but was tabled until more members could be present.
According to figures provided to the board, the COLA in 2021 increased from 0.3% in January to a high of 0.9% in October, followed by 0.8% in both November and December. The total increase for the year was 7.3%.
Selectman Scott Landry asked about a federally forecast COLA of 6.2%.
The number they are looking at goes from November to November, Town Manager Christian Waller said. “We’re looking at the calendar year.”
Various sources indicate the trend is anticipated to be a bit more moderate next year, Waller said.
Selectman Joshua Bell was surprised the COLA wasn’t higher. He asked if the COLA was from national figures and if different regions, such as the northeast had different numbers.
The COLA is national, an average of all regions, Waller said. He didn’t have the number available, but suggested last year it was about 2%. It’s at a 30 year high now, he added.
Social security is increasing 5.9%, Selectman Stephan Bunker noted.
“Department managers need a number,” he said.
“As long as I have been on the board, there was only one time we didn’t go with the COLA,” Selectman Chairman Matthew Smith said. “It was a negative number that year. We’ve faired pretty well with it.”
Waller noted two things the COLA does:
1). For many employees, especially those who have been here a long time, it is treating them with fairness, equity.
2). It speaks towards the retention of talent.
Retention is a problem, will only get worse if there’s no adjustment, Landry said.
Waller said he has spoken with area town managers and no one can get enough people.
If an additional increase based on an employee’s worth is done, townspeople might balk, Selectman Michael Fogg said.
That would need to be worded differently, Smith said.
Work on the COLA tonight, then talk about the other later, see where people are behind, Bell suggested. It’s beneficial to look at where people’s wages are based on those for similar municipalities — that’s what the county did, he said.
Basing it on performance was noted as Bell’s preference.
The 7.3% COLA will cost the Town of Farmington just over $177,000, Waller said.
In other business, the board accepted a $4,000 donation from the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce/Seth Wescott golf tournament. The money was put in the Farmington Park and Recreation Department’s skateboard park reserve account.
That reserve account had $4,700 in it from an earlier donation from the Chamber and Wescott. That donation was to go towards the “improvement, repair, grant match or planning” of the Dragon’s Nest Skateboard Park on Perkins St. next to Hippach Field. The park was built in 1991.
“There was no request for what this amount was to be used for but (Wescott) selected our organization to receive the funds again,” Recreation Director Matthew Foster wrote in an email.
Bell asked if a total for the project was known.
Waller said he didn’t know what the rehab, repair costs would be but would find out.
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