ALBION —
Albion Town Clerk Sarah Basinait and Highway Superintendent Jed Standish, whose salaries were chopped in the 2012 town budget, will not see a pay decrease after all.
The town board approved two local laws Monday to return the officials’ salaries to their 2011 levels after a pair of contentious public hearings. Both resolutions passed by 3-to-2 votes, with Supervisor Dennis Stirk and councilmen Jake Olles and Daniel Poprawski in favor of the moves.
Barring a successful push for a public referendum, Standish’s yearly salary will be returned to $46,170. It had been reduced to $38,000 in the budget. Basinait will receive $31,800 instead of the $20,000 that was budgeted.
“These are not raises,” Stirk said during the public hearing. “It’s going back to what they made last year.”
Opposition to the changes centered on arguments about the officials’ effectiveness and the budgetary impact of adding salary and benefit costs back onto the town’s budget. Standish brushed aside a claim that he did not meet the tasks of his office.
“I worked 63 hours last week,” said Standish, who is also the town’s water superintendent.
Councilman Timothy Neilans, who along with Councilman Matt Passarell voted against the raises, warned that the modifications made by the board in recent weeks to the 2012 budget would cause a major tax increase next year.
“It’s a 22.4 percent increase with these bumps,” said Neilans, who included the additions of a full-time and a part-time highway department laborer and attorney’s fees to reach that total.
He projected that the costs of added benefits and salary for the two positions added nearly $40,000 in costs. Basinait said the numbers weren’t accurate, as they did not include their contributions to health care costs.
Stirk said the funds returned to Standish and Basinait’s salaries, and the costs of adding highway employees, would be taken from the town’s contingency fund.
Both moves were approved immediately after the public hearing were closed. Albion resident Lynne Philipps said board was rushing.
“I can’t believe the board would take comments into account,” Philipps said. “The vote happened without a show of consideration.”
Albion’s property tax rate was reduced by 31 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for village and town residents last year. Albion resident Jim Babcock said it was irresponsible to cut town taxes largely through cuts to only two employees.
“Why was it reduced in the first place? It was vindictive,” said Babcock, who voiced support for the local laws.
Passarell said the board’s rationale had been to fix a problem — the highway department’s costs being too high for the 41 miles of town roads serviced.
Paul Lauricella, a Yates resident who said he was observing the meeting for the local Conservative Party, said the decisions made last year should remain and be followed by other boards.
“Salaries are too high,” Lauricella said. “What the last board did should be the standard.”
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