City Council - Finance Committee

CITY OF EASTHAMPTON OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL Minutes Easthampton Municipal Building 50 Payson Ave., Ste. 100 City Council Easthampton, Massachusetts 01027-2260 Finance Telephone #: (413) 529-1460 Committee Fax #: (413) 529-1417 Meeting, 1/26/2022 Attendees: Finance Committee Members: Councilor Dan Rist, Chair Councilor Tom Peake, Clerk Councilor Koni Denham Other Attendees: City Council President Homar Gomez City Clerk Barbara LaBombard Personnel Director Emily Russo City Treasurer Jennifer Gallant City Auditor Hetal Patel Meeting was called to order at 5:00 PM. The meeting was held remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was videotaped 1. Approval of Minutes: 1/12/22. Motion made by Councilor Peake and seconded by Councilor Denham. Motion passed 3-0. 2. Mayor’s Communication: None. 3. Public Speak: None. 4. New Business a) Review of Salary and Stipends for Elected Officials: The committee did not discuss this tonight. 5. Old Business a) Review of council clerk stipend (City Ordinances, Chapter 2, Sec. 7-5): The clerk to the council has not received a raise in five years. Currently, the clerk to the council is City Clerk Barbara LaBombard, and is currently paid by the meeting and per month. City Clerk LaBombard is recommending a switch to a yearly plan so that a special meeting would not have budgetary implications. She also noted that her workload as clerk to the council has increased dramatically since the time of her last raise. Councilors Rist and Peake noted that they agreed that the total work had increased. There was some discussion of how this stipend  relates to the stipends of other committee clerks in the city. The committee ultimately agreed to increase the stipend to $5,000 per year. There was also some discussion about how the assistant clerk would be paid in the case of the clerk to the council is unable to make a meeting. It was decided that the alternate would be paid $100 per meeting. Motion made by Councilor Denham and seconded by Councilor Peake. Motion passed 3-0. b) Review of pay grades of City Council appointees (Clerk/Assessor/Auditor): The committee did not discuss this tonight: Councilor Rist noted that the pay grades for each of these positions were recommended by the Collins Center in their 2019 report. Personnel Director Emily Russo described the step system for the pay plan. She also believed that the scale is out of line, because cost of living adjustments were not made for several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to remain competitive, new employees have had to been placed at a higher place on the scale. City Clerk Barbara LaBombard noted that she had maxed out at step 12 long ago, and that when she retired, it would be challenging to find a qualified replacement. City Treasurer Jenn Gallant noted that at the current scale, she has had some difficulty hiring staff. This item was continued. 6. Continuing Business  Review of QUARTERLY fiscal reports from the City Auditor: no report for this meeting  QUARTERLY Report on Covid-19 grant funding and Spending: no report for this meeting By motion made by Councilor Peake and seconded by Councilor Denham, the meeting was adjourned at 5:58 PM Next meeting: 2/9/22