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Southborough personnel board backs step increases for long‑tenured staff, consolidates business‑administrator tiers
Summary
The Personnel Board approved FY26 pay rates, endorsed moving employees with seven or more years in the same role to at least the midpoint (step 8), and voted to consolidate BA1/BA2 classifications to increase ceiling for business-administrator positions; the board also previewed a compensation-data tool pilot.
The Personnel Board of the Town of Southborough on June 17 approved several actions on FY26 compensation aimed at addressing long-tenured employees, business-administrator pay tiers and annual pay rates.
The board voted to approve FY26 pay rates effective July 1, 2025, as presented in the primary and supplemental packets. It also moved and approved a proposal asking the Select Board to fund movement to the midpoint (step 8) for all employees who have served seven or more years in the exact same position. The personnel-board motion asked that the change be effective July 1, 2025, if possible, but no later than Jan. 1, 2026, and urged the Select Board to seek town-meeting funding or appropriation to implement the changes.
Board members said the seven-year cutoff was intended to help employees who were hired after the town reintroduced a step system and who have since fallen below midpoint in their grade; proponents argued the change would improve retention and equity. One board member favored making the adjustment retroactive to Jan. 1 if necessary; another emphasized the role of town meeting and Select Board in funding any pay changes.
The board also unanimously approved a reclassification step to remove the BA1/BA2 distinction: moving BA1 positions from grade 4 to grade 5 (effectively making BA1 positions BA2) effective Jan. 1, 2026, or sooner if bylaw or Select Board action allows. The change will raise the salary ceiling for those business-administrator roles and, board members said, reduce the divisiveness of maintaining two BA tiers.
Members discussed the limits of the personnel board’s ability to regrade positions without a full pay-class study and agreed that department heads who believe a job’s duties have materially changed may submit a request and job-description documentation for mid-cycle review. The board noted that broader regrading outside the two actions taken would likely require a consultant study that town meeting had declined to fund earlier.
The board also reviewed an online compensation‑data tool being piloted with the Mass. Municipal Association and a consultant that currently serves school districts. Vanessa and staff explained the tool compiles live pay and step data from comparable communities and can model cost impacts of stipend or COLA changes; the pilot cost for Southborough was presented as $2,000 (discounted pilot rate) with higher fees for larger implementations.
A separate discussion about potential changes to police lieutenant and sergeant pay was deferred. Board members said they lacked sufficient data and would request the chief to present job duties and comparable differentials before considering any contract or SAP changes.
