The Town of Southborough Personnel Board on Dec. 22 recommended keeping its workplace development line at $12,000 and agreed to sponsor a separate $25,000 warrant article for a townwide pay/class study, a move board members said would allow the study to begin quickly if approved at spring town meeting.

The chair said the pay/class study has been discussed previously but was not funded by town meeting; board members and staff signaled the study is the most reliable way to review job grades and pay across departments rather than ad hoc regrading. "If the study is approved, we can begin as early as April and have changes in place more quickly than waiting for the next fiscal cycle," a member of staff said.

The decision followed public comment from Ted McCarthy, who said he was speaking "on behalf of the Southborough Police Lieutenants." McCarthy told the board he found lieutenant positions and benefits appeared redlined in the meeting packet and urged the board to keep the existing Salary Administration Plan (SAP) in place "until a mutually agreeable and ratified contract is reached." He asked the board to place the matter on a future agenda.

Board members acknowledged the contract negotiations and signaled they do not intend to make unilateral changes that might conflict with a ratified bargaining agreement. The chair told members that if a union contract is ratified it could supersede language in the SAP and said staff would avoid making changes that create adverse optics while bargaining continues.

On process, staff recommended pursuing the pay/class study as a separate warrant article funded by free cash so work could start immediately after town meeting if approved. The board voted by roll call to (1) recommend $12,000 for workplace development in the FY27 personnel board budget and (2) sponsor a $25,000 warrant article to fund a pay/class study. The motion passed unanimously.

Next steps: staff will prepare a town‑meeting handout that summarizes the proposed SAP edits and the pay/class study proposal and will publish the draft to employees before the board's January meeting for further review and comment.