Back in early 2015, our Town Council terminated the contract on the previous Town Manager and rightfully so. However, that left a critical vacancy and needed to be filled quickly. In the Town Council’s hurry to fill this critical position; the Town Council allowed Diane Barnes to include paragraph 5F under Section 5 Salary and Fringe Benefits which states and I quote “The Manager shall also receive any benefits as the Town provides to its other employees.”
PURPOSE AS DEFINED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:
A cost-of-living adjustment is made to social security
and supplemental security income to counteract the effects of inflation.
Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are typically equal to the percentage
increase in the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical
workers (CPI-W) for a specific period.
B. The Town Council must restrict any salary increase to ONLY those in Blue Collar positions. Those individuals in management positions make enough money off the taxpayers. Let’s look at the three recent hires”
1.
Sewer Director
was hired for approximately $80,000.00 per year. If you filter
in the COLA this salary increases roughly $1,600.00 per year.
2.
This is the same with the new Public Works Director
hired for $80,000.00 per year. The COLA is the same.
3.
Now, let’s look at the new Fire Chief who was hired
for $70,000 per year. The COLA on this is roughly $1,400.00 per
year. Also, the previous Fire Chief
received $69,284.80, according to the 2016-2017 Annual Report. This was after several years on the job, so
what was his starting salary?