Comments on: BUDGET WORKSHOP: Town Requests More Staff, Higher Pay, New Truck

By: Antonio Sacco

Antonio Sacco — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 19:03:14 +0000

Except Frank Wendell, throw the rest of the council out in the next election and don’t let them in the council again.

By: Kristin McClaren

Kristin McClaren — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:29:30 +0000

M.K. Felch: I work for the Commonwealth. I used the state information as a comparison to illustrate that many public employees have gone for years in these tough economic times with little or no compensation increase. It seems odd for the town to, on the one hand, commission a compensation study, and on the other, to request a COLA increase in advance of the study. In my personal opinion, the town has made some curious financial decisions given the economic state.

By: M.K. Felch

M.K. Felch — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 01:24:23 +0000

Kristin, just to clarify, the increase state employees received last year was accompanied by a huge increase in healthcare premiums. For employees making under $50,000 and on the family plan, the raise was completely usurped by the healthcare increase.

By: Jeff Walker

Jeff Walker — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 20:47:22 +0000

I’m assuming the difference between the increase in trash costs and the monthly increase is partially due to changing the billing from a card to a sheet inside an envelope. They mentioned increased postage and supplies for the change.

Our understanding is that under the latest contract with Davis Disposal, the town is paying $13 per household, but is only charging $12.57 on the water bill. The Davis contract escalates to $13.50 per household in September, and the town wants to raise the water bill charge to the full $13.50, or 93 cents higher than the current bill. –EDITOR

By: Kristin McClaren

Kristin McClaren — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 20:51:17 +0000

Interesting that a COLA increase would be requested in advance of the compensation study which is apparently planned. By comparison, Commonwealth of Virginia employees have received the following pay adjustments in recent years:
2008 and 2009 – no increase or bonus
2010 – 3% one time bonus
2011 – VRS Plan 1 employees received 5% increase to offset mandatory 5% contribution to the retirement plan (state had been paying the 5% for many years in lieu of a pay increase decades ago)
2012 – 3% one time performance bonus
2013 – 2% performance pay increase (first pay increase since 2007)

Also interesting that the cost of trash pick up is going up $0.50 per household, but the Town is proposing a $0.93 increase per month. Just sayin’.

By: Steve Downs

Steve Downs — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 19:15:45 +0000

Raises, more spending, new vehicles — sounds like the same old [stuff]!