Village Council Circles Back on Requested Hourly Bump for 2 Staffers. Grants $.50/hr and $1/hr Increase — Less Than Sought by Mayor and Library Director
Monday morning September 18 the village council revisited it’s failure at last Tuesday’s meeting to provide two small pay raises — with two even smaller raises
Update: At the Monday morning Special meeting on 9/18, the Council voted to give a $.50/hr raise to the part-time librarian who works 13.5 hours per week instead of $1.75 requested by the library director. And for the clerk who will be taking on additional duties in the absence of the Planning & Zoning clerk, the mayor’s requested $2/hr raise for the employee was whittled down to $1/hr on a 2-1 vote.
The argument made sighted a $250,000 deficit last year in the Village’s budget. (No word on this year’s projected loss.). The requested hourly adjustments would mean only a few thousand dollars annually. One wonders what other expenses could have been trimmed instead of the hourly wages of staffers who keep the business of the Village running daily. The cost of recent turnover in the clerk role far outweighs the “savings,” a point the mayor made repeatedly. Penny-wise, pound-foolish?
You can see and hear the Council meeting here: https://fb.watch/n9n2V83YzK/
At the council meeting of September 12, one uncomfortable moment was when two motions to award small hourly pay raises failed to receive a second. To many, it felt like the trustees were insensitive to the needs of two important hourly workers. The amount of money was immaterial to the village budget but meaningful to the employees.
To bring this issue up and then deny it in front of a room full of spectators felt embarrassing to everyone. This should’ve been worked out in advance.
Perhaps Monday morning's special meeting will see a good resolution this time.
It would be helpful if the council would share in real-time our budget for the year. When asked when we could see the budget, the answer seemed to indicate it would be months.
Why isn’t the current budget readily available?