Melbourne Beach approves 3% raises, sets $11,010 merit pool; removes manager gas stipend after budget updates

Melbourne Beach commissioners on Sept. 3 approved a 3% cost-of-living and merit increase for town staff and budgeted an additional $11,010 merit pool for six positions, and they removed a previously listed gas-and-oil stipend for the town manager.

The commission voted 4-1 to allow the 3% cola and merit increase for six positions — town clerk, fire chief, police chief, police administrative assistant, maintenance worker and groundskeeper — and to include an additional budgeted pool of up to $11,010 that Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro may allocate among those six roles. The motion was made by Commissioner Robert Baldwin and seconded by Vice Mayor Don Barlow; the motion passed with Mayor Allison Dennington recorded as the lone dissenting vote.

Why this matters: The change front-loads salary adjustments in the adopted budget and gives the town manager limited discretion to distribute a targeted merit pool for high-performing positions. Commissioners described the action as a way to…