SUMNER – Selectmen asked the Budget Committee on Tuesday to recommend raises for town officers.
For the past two years, selectmen have received $2,200. They would like $3,000 per year.
Selectmen also asked for raises for the town clerk, code enforcement officer and licensed plumbing inspector. The total budget for salaries as requested by selectmen was $75,757, up from $59,770 last year.
The five Budget Committee members present questioned the increase.
“I’ve heard you fellas complain about the school budget increasing 2 percent. Now all of a sudden, your budget increases 25 percent. There’s something wrong with that,” committee member Stuart Cooper said. Committee members asked selectmen to justify an $800 raise.
“The aspect that is going to convince the town is information,” said Mary Ann Haxton. “We ask the school board for hard facts; we have to hold ourselves to the same standards.”
Selectmen were unable to estimate the number of hours the position requires.
Selectman Mark Silber said the board is committed to keeping costs down by doing work themselves.
“We don’t keep hour sheets,” he said. “We respond to the needs of the citizens.”
As examples, Silber said Selectman Thomas Standard was recently trained to survey roads, and Silber volunteers his time to program the town’s computers. Both jobs would need to be contracted if selectmen were unable to do them.
The Budget Committee decided to recommend to taxpayers a $2,400 stipend for selectmen. They will also recommend that the position of town clerk become full-time, with a salary of $33,300.
Selectmen and the Budget Committee will recommend $18,000 toward the purchase of a backhoe. The purchase, if approved by taxpayers, would reduce the budget for building and ground maintenance, they said.
The total recommended budget is just over $1 million, with $85,000 coming from the general fund, $282,420 from anticipated revenues and $709,489 from taxes.
Selectmen opened four bids on tax-acquired property on the Cole Road. The property was awarded to a couple from Maryland, who bid $50,200. The minimum bid was $30,000.
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