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Finance Committee presses for rigorous peer group in Collins compensation study
Summary
Committee members told staff they want a carefully chosen peer-town group for the Collins Center compensation study and the chair will circulate a recommended list for review; the Collins Center is working on the study and will include the peer group in the final product.
Members of the Town of Blackstone Finance Committee pressed staff on the Collins Center compensation study during the meeting.
The committee reviewed a written response from Ms. Taylor indicating the Collins Center is conducting the compensation study and that the peer group will be included in the completed product. The chair stressed that the choice of peer towns is critical: if towns that are not truly comparable are used, the study’s salary comparisons could be misleading or “worthless.” The chair said she will forward a list of towns she believes closely match Blackstone’s residential-to-commercial tax profile and asked committee members to review and comment before the next meeting.
A committee member recalled prior material showing a roughly 14–17% increase in comparative pay in earlier peer comparisons, underscoring the potential budget impact of adopting different peer groups. The committee identified the next meeting as the opportunity to finalize feedback to the Collins Center so the peer group and resulting comparisons are defensible.
No formal vote was taken; the item was discussed as part of routine committee review of consultant work and will be revisited when members have reviewed the circulated peer-town list.
