In the town board’s first meeting of the year, members of the public voiced surprise and concern over a proposed board member raise that would bump member salaries by $5,000 each from $10,000 to $15,000.
New members, Republican Michael Della Villa and Democrat John Silva, were sworn into office less than two hours before members of the public began to discuss whether or not the men should receive a 50 percent pay raise.
Elaine Zimmer, of Putnam Road, said she was not opposed to an increase in board salaries, but that a $5,000 increase was unreasonable.
It’s an awfully large jump, said Zimmer.
Fellow Rotterdam resident, Kevin March echoed some of Zimmer’s sentiments and also pointed out that the discussion of a wage increase didn’t occur until after elections took place in November.
`All the members in front of me were elected at a time when members made $10,000,` said March. `While I realize the board has done many things to make the town of Rotterdam a nicer place to live, a 50 percent jump in salary is just not something I would be used to. My salary will likely go up 3 percent this year, not 50 percent.`
March also voiced his concern that if board member salaries were set at $15,000 they would be too close to the supervisor’s annual salary of $16,000.
`Will we be looking at a raise for the supervisor sometime in the future?` March asked the board.
While several board members suggested that the supervisor’s salary should be increased, Supervisor Steven Tommasone opposed the adjustment. The supervisor’s salary would not change under the proposed local law.
Only one resident spoke in favor of the raises ` recently retired board member Diane Marco who left this year after eight years of service to the town.
`I firmly support this as a resident and a former councilperson,` said Marco who went on to explain that the New Year’s Day public hearing was not an attempt to avoid discourse with residents, but was typical legal procedure.
`There are certain procedures we have to go through,` she said. `No one is trying to backdoor this or put it under the rug. The raises have been discussed for the past two years and checking into other the salaries of other municipalities, this is fair.`
In similarly sized towns like Guilderland and Malta, board members receive an annual salary of $19,860 and $15,000 respectfully. But, Schenectady County Legislators who represent the interests of municipalities like Rotterdam make just over $14,000 per year.
Last month, the board voted 3-to-2 to amend the supervisor’s preliminary budget to include money for the raises. In order to amend board member salaries, the law stipulates that the town has to adopt a local law and hold a public hearing.
If the law is not passed or overturned, the $20,000 budgeted for the raises for four board members would remain unspent in 2008.
According to Town Attorney Girard Parisi, the board will likely vote on the salary increases at their next meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 9. “
