Selectmen’s Budget Hearing #1
December 10, 2015
Present: John Allen, Chairman; Bob Thompson and Bill Lockard, Selectmen
Visitors: Town Office Administrator Julie Atwell, Town Administrative Assistant Julie Hoyt, Police Chief Doug Jette, Fire Chief Jay Henry, Moderator Bill Kelley, Town Clerk/Tax Collector Karen Burton, Treasurer Kathleen Dougherty, Videographer Hank Benesh, Supervisor of the Checklist Jeannette Heidmann, Bea Davis, Bob Davis, Stan Weiss, George Howard, John Fichera, Jerry Dougherty, Gilbert Forest, Mary Howe, Denise Sachse, Nancy Davis, Sarah Clemons, Peter Benson, Betsey Harding, Sam Harding, Penny Miller
Chairman John Allen called the meeting to order and opened the Budget Hearing at 5:22 p.m. The plan is to review the budget packet and take comments. Any changes will be incorporated and reviewed at Budget Hearing #2 on December 21st which will be immediately following the Selectmen’s Meeting scheduled for 4:30.
Supervisor of the Checklist Heidmann would like to speak about the Elected Officers’ Salaries; given the extra work for this year with four elections the range of hours is around one hundred hours; if the election officials were to be paid ten dollars per hour that would be one thousand dollars per person. Currently they are paid three hundred dollars; with the stipend doubled in 2012 for the extra elections. Jeannette is suggesting the town set the pay at ten dollars an hour and do away with the stipend. This year will be a thousand but will be lower in years with fewer elections.
Moderator Kelley wondered if she’s talking about just the Supervisors or all election officials because he’s happy to give his time to the community. He was surprised to get the one hundred dollar stipend but he wants to make it clear that there are multiple election officials and volunteers that get nothing. If the Board is going to look at this it will set precedence and they have to talk about more than supervisors. The work doesn’t stop at seven on the night of the election; there are sixteen people that do volunteer shifts. The spirit of volunteering has gone by the wayside. There are extra hours for the Town Clerk too. Moderator Kelley is thankful the town has the volunteers it has.
Sarah Clemons is concerned with the four percent increase overall; she wondered how many in the Valley, in this town, were given a four percent increase. The Board should keep that in mind.
Town Clerk Burton noted many towns pay their ballot clerks and ask the people that are working to do a pot luck. If the town has volunteers then meals are provided as a thank you. The Town Clerk’s line is going up due to the cost of food and the notices that have to go in the papers this year. Bea Davis noted the town has all these people that are volunteering; they need to be fed.
Selectman Lockard thinks an hourly rate is going to be contagious. Currently the Supervisors get a fixed amount not an hourly rate. Selectman Thompson agrees; he can see having more discussion before the next Hearing about paying them a stipend based on the election not the year. Chairman Allen suggests paying a stipend of one hundred fifty per election. Sarah is right about the four percent however folks need to understand that town staff, across the board, are underpaid when compared to other towns. Bea doesn’t think the comparison is to towns that are comparable to Jackson. Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Thompson, made a motion to increase the stipend to one hundred fifty dollars per election for the Supervisors and the Moderator. The motion passed unanimously.
Town Clerk Burton noted two years ago Ray Burton passed away and there was an unexpected extra election to cover; the town has to be prepared; so she’d like to build an extra election in.
Penny Miller asked why there’s an increase and was informed the town is placing an ad for a Deputy who will have to be trained and there are extra elections to be paid for. The Deputy is only used as needed.
Legal is up by fifty thousand as noted at a previous Selectmen’s meeting. Bea asked which case this amount covers. There is an outstanding case so the Board can’t discuss it. One case was settled with insurance. Bea noted the townsfolk should know how much the case was settled for.
Town Parks is up for the ballfield utility outlet and two thousand was added for administrative costs to Building Inspection for Administrative costs.
Police Department Wages is increased by twenty nine thousand dollars which has to do with training. Chief Jette noted three years ago his Department came to the people and the Town Meeting voted to give the Police an eight percent raise over three years. That changed with the loss of two people last year and moving two new hires in. The Department has not been at full strength for most of the year and part time officers are expected to provide the same level of service; the difference is the amount of time they are allowed to work. It’s Chief Jette’s request that the town allow part time officers to work more hours to stay informed; he’s asking for one thousand hours; that’s two shifts per week. Based on what their pay should be that’s seventeen thousand dollars per part time officer to keep
them on the staff and active. This year it makes perfect sense; having two officers on the road is safer for them. Jerry asked if giving the part time people more time will assist with the turnover issue; Chief Jette noted that is part of another discussion. Officers can always go elsewhere to earn more. Jackson’s is one of the only police agencies where officers can still get out of their car and talk to people. Health insurance is up because two officers came in as single people and now have two person plans for the full year. Penny would like to know what of the twenty nine thousand is going to current full time officers for their yearly increase and what balance is going to the part time officers. Chief Jette is asking for four percent for two officers; one officer isn’t at the rate budgeted for him as he hadn’t completed his training yet. Moderator Kelley noted there’s been a lot of discussion regarding parking on
Dundee and in the Village; is Chief Jette putting a foot patrol out there as a solution to the parking? Chief Jette doesn’t have the budget now but in the future he’d like to do that. It worked in the 70’s; Moderator Kelley commended Chief Jette for thinking about it. Officers need to keep the village open if there’s a lot of snow. Sarah asked if the town is paying to train these folks that keep leaving; Chief Jette noted they are paid a salary but their training is not paid for. The next problem is that the state doesn’t have enough money to run the Police Academy; it will be incumbent upon each town to fund fifteen to twenty thousand dollars per officer for training. There is now a contract in place; full time officers sign a three year contract; the cost of their training is prorated if they leave. The contract is not for part time persons; he would like to think there is some loyalty there. Denise wondered why not;
that seems inconsistent. The part time officers have full time jobs elsewhere so they aren’t scheduled regularly. If they had to be locked in for three years there would be no part time police department. Chief Henry noted officers are getting paid to train however, the officers they currently have are already trained. The Ambulance does the same thing; there’s an expectation that they must stay a certain amount of time. Firefighter I costs the town twenty five hundred dollars; they can’t just take that training and leave two months later. The police officers in the Department now are already trained. The full time program is in Concord; five days a week for sixteen weeks; the part time training is two hundred hours; one day a week and the part timers pay for that.
There’s been nothing from the Ambulance; they are doing a much better job of collecting now.
Fire Wages are up twenty nine thousand dollars; the Code Inspector Wages are down; Health Insurance and NHRS were increased twenty two thousand and eleven thousand dollars respectively. Operating Expenses are down eighty five hundred and Special Equipment is down seven thousand. Parts & Repairs drops due to the new truck. The total difference is sixty five hundred dollars.
Moderator Kelley asked if Jackson is still getting sixty percent from Bartlett for the maintenance of the Tyrol radios. Jackson pays it and then bills Bartlett. There have been no issues over the last two years; the phone is out and the electricity is all solar.
Chairman Allen noted Chief Henry’s wages, insurance and pension are offset on the Highway side. Sarah asked what is happening with the office; it sounds like there’s a full time fire chief already. Chairman Allen explained that Inspector Goudreau is reducing his time here; Chief Henry would take over those duties as Fire Inspector; the plan is to cut his wages in half; that’s a savings of eighty five hundred dollars. Sarah asked who is going to take over as Road Agent and will there be a need for two vehicles. The premise is that Jackson won’t need another vehicle. Sarah wondered why the Fire Department is no longer to choose to vote in their chief within their department; she wondered when the Selectmen or the town said Jackson wants a full time Fire Chief. This was voted on at the last Selectmen’s
meeting although Chairman Allen abstained; he thought it should go to Town Meeting. Sarah noted no residents had input; she wondered if she came to the Selectmen’s Office for a job description would she have it tomorrow. She wondered how the town can have a job without a job description. Sarah as a town resident is disappointed this didn’t come to the Town Meeting in March. Selectman Thompson noted it will come before the voters in March. The Selectmen are not creating a new job; they are trying to protect Jackson. When Jay Henry took on his position as Fire Chief the town added the Road Agent to it and was told he couldn’t do that forever. There are three departments that are responsible for life safety; having two departments being headed by one person is not a tenable position. Inspector Goudreau is leaving and the town has to fill those hours. This budget starts January first; the Selectmen can’t wait until March to
do that. The Selectmen decided to have a Listening Post session tonight and had plenty of input the night they voted on it and are again asking for more input tonight. Selectman Thompson pledges that he will reverse this change if the residents don’t want it. He is doing the job of making sure the residents in this town have the appropriate life safety.
Mary Howe wondered what the rationale was for a full time chief; Jackson has eight hundred sixty residents.
Sarah thinks Jackson should insist that its Fire Chief has EMT training; it was noted the town can’t require it by statute. Sarah noted the Board compares everything else, they need to compare this; most Fire chiefs have some EMT training. Jerry noted Conway and North Conway both have an ambulance squad; while Jackson does not. Moderator Kelley noted Bartlett has a full time chief and a population of twenty nine hundred. Jackson can’t compare itself to Conway and North Conway. Bartlett and Jackson have an ambulance separated out from the duties of the Fire Department. The Selectmen have the authority to do what they are doing and they have to budget for it. Bea noted this isn’t comparing apples to apples; the other towns are not the same size as Jackson for town comparisons. Penny has
a difficult time with a full time fire chief for an average of one hundred fifteen calls a year. The change to Highway wages will cover most of this increase. Stan isn’t sure how the salary for the new Road Agent is included when there isn’t one yet; it was noted the new hire would, for sure, come in less expensive than the previous Road Agent. Chief Jette noted Waterville Valley has a residency of three hundred year round and they have a full time Fire Chief.
Peter Benson noted comparisons can lie anyway you want; Jackson doesn’t need to be compared to any other community. This was not something that folks were crazy about at the Fire Department but the level of service Jackson wants to provide requires a change to staffing; this is not your father’s Fire Department. The state and feds don’t differentiate between the sizes of towns; the paperwork required is still the same. There is not a younger core filling the roster. Moderator Kelley noted that’s true; it’s not the amount of calls; it’s the amount of paperwork. He urged folks to support this; it’s not a lot of money.
John Fichera noted Jackson is full of commercial businesses that all have to be inspected; God forbid something goes wrong and the work wasn’t done right; it’s time to move into the twenty first century.
There being no further business, the hearing was adjourned at 6:27 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Martha D. Tobin
Recording Secretary
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