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Town manager proposes opt‑out health payments to fund two half‑year public‑safety hires; committee presses on 13% assistant manager raise
Summary
The town manager told the committee expanding employee health‑insurance opt‑outs and a limited HSA option could yield about $150,000, funding half a police officer and half a firefighter for six months and $50,000 for schools; members criticized a 13.4% pay increase for the assistant town manager in her contract and asked about bylaw limits.
The Town Manager told the Finance Committee that modest changes to employee health benefits — increasing opt‑out payments and adding a limited HSA option — could yield approximately $150,000, which the manager proposed to use to fund half‑year hires and a $50,000 school payment.
"By increasing the opt‑out payment and rolling out a limited HSA option, that we can bring in an additional 150,000 in revenue," the Town Manager said, and proposed using that money to "hire half of a police officer for 6 months, half of a firefighter for 6 months, and $50,000 additional to the school department."
Committee debate over assistant town manager pay: Several members pressed on a contract provision showing a 13.4% increase for the assistant town manager. One member characterized an across‑the‑board 13% raise as "fiscally irresponsible," while others said the hire began below market and has already produced strong returns.
When asked, the manager said the raise was part of the original hiring contract and that all contracts are posted online; a committee member read a figure from the posted contract saying the assistant town manager's salary for the year appears as $121,500. The committee discussed whether stipends are included in pay ranges and whether bylaw changes will be needed to avoid conflicts with salary limits if contracts escalate in future years.
Budget technical corrections and next steps: The manager acknowledged errors in the FY26 column of the packet and promised to email corrected tables. Committee members requested clearer totals for personnel and reserve balances ahead of the next meeting.
Ending: No formal appropriation or contract vote occurred; the committee asked the manager to return with corrected budget tables and, if necessary, bylaw text before final decisions.
