Gardner City committee recommends pay-scale overhaul that recognizes up to 75% of prior city service

An ad hoc Gardner City committee voted to recommend the full City Council adopt an ordinance creating a new compensation step schedule that recognizes up to 75% of prior city service (capped at 10 years) and would be retroactive to July 1 for most positions, the committee heard.

The ordinance, presented at the committee meeting, separates department-head pay from other staff by using longer intervals and larger step increases for top management and shorter intervals with smaller step increases for hourly, direct-supervisory and support staff. The presenter said the proposal adds positions that had been excluded from prior drafts, including seasonal recreation staff and other job classifications.

Why it matters: committee members said the change is intended to improve employee retention and clarify progression while keeping the city’s wage structure affordable. The presenter told the committee the package would cost about $110,000 to implement and that the current draft is roughly $30,000 less than the presenter’s original proposal and about $10,000 less than a finance-committee alternative.

Key provisions and examples

The ordinance language allows employees to carry over up to 75% of years served in another city position, capped at 10 years, into a new step placement. As the presenter explained: “if you served a different position with the city, up to 75% of your years of service in the other position, capping that at 10 years,” which is then combined with years in an employee’s current role to determine their step. The presenter used the example of an employee with 10 prior years and additional current service to show how that person would be placed on the grid.

The committee also heard how cost-of-living adjustments would interact with the grid: COLAs are applied to the first step (recently 3%), and the percentage gaps between steps (2% in lower tiers and about 3.25% in upper tiers) would carry off that adjusted first step.

Retroactivity, exclusions and practical details

The presenter told the committee the ordinance would be retroactive to July 1 for all positions except lifeguards, since lifeguard pay is seasonal and the season is concluded. Election workers were left on a flat rate because day-of staffing changes and temporary promotions make a step system impractical for those roles. Pay for special police officers remains governed by an existing union contract; the presenter said outside departments may be paid when Gardner officers are unavailable for scheduled details.

On performance reviews, the presenter said tying step increases to reviews would add subjectivity and budget uncertainty, so the committee did not include performance-review-linked raises in this ordinance; several committee members nonetheless said performance reviews are a normal and valuable personnel practice.

Correction and amendment planned

One committee member said they would offer a friendly amendment to correct spreadsheet formula errors that unintentionally altered starting salaries for three positions (Assistant Clerk, Auditor and Treasurer Collector). That correction, the member said, would adjust those steps slightly but would not materially change the committee’s overall cost estimate.

Committee action and next steps

Committee member Speaker 3 moved to recommend the proposal to the full City Council; the committee record states, “Motion made by councilor Hayman, second by councilor Kazinskas,” and the committee adopted the recommendation by voice vote. The committee chair noted the ordinance must still go through first and second printing at the full council and that final passage will require a two-thirds majority vote at council.

The presenter and committee members said the ad hoc committee should remain available for at least early FY27 budget discussions and should perform one or two reviews in the first months of implementation (or within roughly six months) to check how the grid is working and recommend adjustments if needed.

What wasn’t decided

The committee left several topics for future discussion, including whether to count outside municipal service beyond Gardner in all job classes and how to standardize the number of years between steps across all positions. Committee members emphasized those items are appropriate to address in follow-up work rather than in this initial ordinance.

The committee adjourned after recording the recommendation to the full council.