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Townsend electors approve 10% pay raise for elected officials as town reports $356,000 surplus
Summary
At its April 16, 2024 annual electors meeting, Townsend approved a 10% pay increase for elected officials and a biennial salary-review schedule while Treasurer Beth Hartman reported a roughly $356,000 surplus for fiscal 2023 and detailed ARPA-supported purchases and a paid-off tractor loan.
Townsend electors approved a 10% pay increase for elected officials during the town’s annual meeting on April 16, 2024, a motion carried by voice with a recorded tally of 42 yea, 2 nay and 4 abstentions. The meeting also set a schedule to review elected-officials’ salaries at the electors’ meeting every odd-numbered year after a separate motion passed 44–0 with 4 abstentions.
The financial backdrop for the votes came in Treasurer Beth Hartman’s fiscal-2023 report. Hartman told electors the town collected a $644,690 levy and finished the year about $356,000 over budget, driven in part by higher receipts for MFL (Managed Forest Law), Transportation Aid and PILT (payments in lieu of taxes). Hartman said the surplus has been allocated to depreciation funds and that remaining 2021 ARPA funds were spent on town needs including a copier, dry hydrants, repair of the fire‑department apron, replacement truck tires, an on‑site fuel tank and new plow blades. The town also paid off a $139,000 tractor loan.
Chairperson Monica Zeller noted progress controlling expenses at the recycling center as one factor limiting operating costs. The agenda packet included several reports on town services and community groups; electors approved the personnel-pay motion after discussion and motions were recorded on the floor.
Other procedural business included a motion to approve prior electors’ minutes (moved by Terri Heyrman and seconded by Anita Szyszkiewicz); the transcript does not record a numeric vote tally for that motion. The meeting adjourned at 7:27 p.m.; minutes were later approved and signed by Clerk Linda Ziegler on April 15, 2025.
What happens next: the town will follow the newly approved schedule for reviewing elected-officials’ pay at every odd‑year electors’ meeting; the next annual meeting is scheduled for April 15, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.
