Clinton — The Town Board of Clinton on Tuesday held a workshop reviewing the preliminary 2026 budget and confirmed a 3.25% across‑the‑board pay increase for town employees, with longevity adjustments added where applicable. Board members and staff also discussed health insurance changes, an insurance premium overpayment repayment plan for one employee, departmental line‑item changes for highway, assessor and recreation programs, and a proposal to give $1,000 to the local food pantry that the board decided not to place in the draft budget.

The raise ‘‘is 3.25% on top of salary plus longevity,’’ a staff member explained during the meeting, and a participant later calculated the town clerk/secretary's salary would move from the stated line to $42,032 after applying a 3% longevity adjustment. The board asked staff to review all salary lines to make sure longevity was being compounded and applied consistently.

Why it matters: The workshop set the town’s near‑term spending priorities and schedule for the formal budget process. Board members scheduled the preliminary budget review, a public hearing and final adoption dates and flagged several line items that could change before the final adoption, including potential savings from switching health plans.

Most important decisions and directions

- Pay increases: Board members confirmed a 3.25% raise for town positions and instructed staff to verify that longevity amounts are factored in consistently across hourly and salaried lines. During the discussion staff and board members ran numbers for the town clerk/secretary position, showing a base figure of roughly $40,008 that becomes $42,032 when the 3% longevity is applied, yielding an hourly rate that staff calculated at about $25.26 when longevity is included in the hourly conversion.

- Health insurance and repayment: The board discussed a previously identified $18,000 overpayment in health insurance premiums. Town officials said the town recovered part of that sum and reduced the employee’s payback schedule to $25 per week. Board members also heard that the town’s health‑insurance agent would present alternative plan options the following day that could reduce premiums and lower payroll deductions.

- Food pantry request removed from the draft: A request to add a $1,000 appropriation for the Pleasant Plains branch of the Dutchess County food pantry prompted legal and policy questions. One board member said, ‘‘We’re not giving money to a church. It’s to the food pantry that they run,’’ but other members raised concerns about using taxpayer funds to subsidize a charity. The board agreed to remove the $1,000 line from the draft budget and instead encouraged board members to make personal donations and consider volunteer drives.

- Departmental and operational notes: The board reviewed and adjusted many departmental contractual and equipment lines. Notable items included a $5,000 contractual request for assessor fieldwork (an outside contractor, Deborah Whitten, was named in the discussion), a reallocation of some grounds and seasonal staffing costs, modest increases in propane and telephone costs, and reductions in some IT and copier maintenance expenses after contract renegotiations and operational changes. Recreation and parks staffing and equipment needs were discussed; the board noted savings from reduced gate‑guard and lifeguard hours and removed an aquatics director line where the program had not met staffing thresholds.

- Television/meeting coverage contingency: The town discussed risks to in‑house meeting coverage if current volunteers/staff are unavailable and reviewed a vendor option (MGM Television, represented by Mike Miner) to run meetings for an estimated $350 per meeting. Board members placed that contingency in the draft contractual list for discussion but did not commit to a contract.

What remained unresolved or for follow‑up

- Staff were directed to verify every salary line to make sure longevity is applied consistently and to update any hourly calculations that had omitted longevity.

- The board set a schedule for the formal budget process: staff will meet Wednesday for the preliminary budget review, hold a public hearing on Nov. 5 and aim for adoption in November (the board discussed a target November meeting to adopt the final budget and noted the statutory deadline later in the month).

- Health plan selection: staff will present the insurance agent’s proposal at the next meeting; any change could materially affect the town’s premium costs and payroll withholding.

Quotes and who said them

"The 32 hours is not adequate for that job," Melissa said in defense of continuing education and work performed beyond posted desk hours by the town clerk/secretary. Melissa appears in the transcript as the employee explaining duties and training attendance.

"We’re not giving money to a church. It’s to the food pantry that they run," a board member said during the food‑pantry discussion as the board considered legal and policy implications of a budget appropriation.

Ending: next steps and schedule

Board members agreed to reconvene for a preliminary review later this week, to correct math and longevity calculations in the draft, and to hold the public hearing on Nov. 5. The town will circulate a revised draft after staff corrects salary lines and factors in any health‑insurance changes presented by the town’s agent.

(Reporting by meeting transcript; no formal votes were recorded in the transcript beyond the board direction to apply the 3.25% raise and to proceed with the budget calendar.)