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Harpers Ferry council approves financial reports, FY26 pay scales and several community grants
Summary
Council approved financial reports, invoices, the FY26 waterworks budget, a 5% cost-of-living increase for town employees beginning July 1, and allocations to local organizations including the Friendship Fire Company and the Bolivar Harpers Ferry Public Library.
Harpers Ferry Town Council on May 12 approved routine financial business, adopted a FY26 pay scale that includes a 5% cost-of-living adjustment and authorized multiple transfers to local organizations.
The council accepted the March financial reports and three-quarter-year reviews and approved invoices submitted at the meeting. A motion to approve the invoices passed 5-1; other approvals were recorded as unanimous where noted.
On budgeting, the council approved the Fiscal Year 26 Waterworks budget after staff described revisions and assumptions tied to meter upgrades and staffing changes. The waterworks budget was adopted 6-0. Council also approved Fiscal Year 25 revision 3 and related allotment adjustments earlier in the meeting.
On personnel pay, council adopted FY26 pay scales that formalize previously approved step increases and a 5% COLA, to take effect July 1, 2025. The motion carried with the vote recorded as 5-0 (one member absent and one abstain noted in the record).
Council approved a town employee Continuous Service Recognition program for qualifying staff and confirmed the program would be reflected in administrative policy rather than an ordinance.
Small allocations and purchases approved at the meeting included a police tablet purchase: staff reported a single rugged tablet acquired from the county at a discount (the tablet cost $3,100) and the council authorized up to $3,300 to complete the purchase. The council also authorized previously budgeted payments to regional service providers: $3,500 (from Economic Development) and $4,500 (from Public Transportation) to Eastern Panhandle Transit Authority (EPTA); $1,305 from coal severance and $4,000 from the general fund to the Friendship Fire Company; and $4,500 to the Bolivar Harpers Ferry Public Library for regular operations. Where motions were made the council approved the disbursements, typically by unanimous vote.
Discussion vs. decision: the budget, pay-scale adoption, and the listed funding allocations were formal council decisions. Policy clarifications'such as the format or placement of the Continuous Service Recognition program in the employee manual'were decided administratively rather than by ordinance.
Council asked staff to provide exact dollar figures when a member asked for them later in the discussion; staff said they would follow up with a formal dollar-amount schedule for the recognition program.
