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Select board approves pay increase and Friday closures to retain town employees
Summary
At a June joint meeting the Lyman Select Board approved a $1,272,559 salaries-and-benefits package that includes reduced hours and a pay increase intended to retain staff; the move drew criticism from a resident who called it "a slap in the face."
The Lyman Select Board on June 2 approved a salaries-and-benefits total of $1,272,559 for the coming fiscal year, a measure board members said is intended to make town pay competitive and help retain long-term staff.
Supporters of the package said the town had been losing employees to neighboring communities and that closing town offices on Fridays was part of a strategy to create better work-life balance without increasing overall personnel costs. "We were actually losing good employees to other towns because we weren't keeping up," a Select Board member said in defense of the change. The board approved the line after discussion.
Opponents and at least one public commenter said the combination of reduced scheduled hours and higher pay was unfair to taxpayers. "This is a slap in the face," the commenter said, arguing that reducing hours while increasing pay would raise property taxes. That comment was not tied to a formal motion; the board debated but ultimately approved the salaries-and-benefits total.
Board members said the change was not a result of decreased work but of an effort to retain staff, and described the Friday closure as an incentive for recruitment and retention. "Part of the incentive to make a better work life balance was to close on Fridays," a Select Board member said. Members also noted the decision was compatible with previously adopted changes in hourly rates and that the current vote covered the FY27 budget line.
The salaries-and-benefits total was presented after the Budget Committee reported its recommendations; the Select Board cast the final vote during the joint session. The agenda item was recorded as a motion to accept the $1,272,559 salaries-and-benefits line and carried as presented.
The board did not schedule additional hearings on the matter at the meeting; members indicated they had considered median comparisons to surrounding towns and that handouts showing pay medians had been distributed to members. The action was one of several personnel- and operations-related approvals taken that night as the board advanced the broader FY27 budget.
What happens next: The approved salaries-and-benefits figure will be part of the warrant and the town's proposed FY27 budget forwarded per the town's normal warrant and vote process.
