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Sagadahoc budget committee delays cost-of-living decision pending wage-study data
Summary
Committee members agreed to defer a recommendation on a county-wide cost-of-living adjustment until staff completes missing wage-study data and runs alternative scenarios showing budget impacts.
Sagadahoc County’s budget advisory committee agreed to postpone a recommendation on a cost-of-living adjustment for county employees as staff gathers incomplete wage-study data and prepares scenario numbers for the committee.
Committee members said they typically use the Social Security Administration’s 2025 cost-of-living adjustment (2.5 percent) as a baseline but noted other measures are higher: the Northeast CPI figure cited in the meeting was about 3.3 percent. Collective-bargaining agreements discussed during the meeting specify larger adjustments for union employees (committee members cited a 3.5 percent figure for unions and references to a 3.7 percent calculation). Staff said the recommendation will focus on nonunion employees and that final figures will be presented before the committee makes a recommendation.
The decision to wait was driven by gaps in recently returned wage studies. Staff told the committee two neighboring counties (Lincoln and Cumberland) had not participated in the primary survey the county had received; those counties are important comparators for recruitment and pay comparisons. Staff said it is collecting the missing data directly from those counties and will consolidate the sources in an Excel-based wage-study sheet showing averages by position and the percentage change relative to current pay. The committee directed staff to plug in those numbers and present the bottom-line budget impact at its day-long budget review meeting.
During public comment, resident Wendy Wright said the county should make budget materials available sooner and expressed concern about potential large salary increases. "I just feel a a little, uncomfortable, I think, that we're not allowed even though it's a preliminary budget, and it was passed out last year, that we're not allowed to look at it," Wright said. County staff responded that preliminary budgets are withheld until numbers are checked and that a proposed budget would be posted after the committee’s wage recommendation and related figures are set.
No formal vote was taken on a COLA at the meeting; committee members agreed to revisit the item after staff provides the wage-study inputs and the scenario runs.
The committee scheduled its upcoming review of wage adjustments at the next Tuesday meeting, when staff expects to present completed scenarios and the sources behind them.
