WILTON – Selectboard members decided on a tiered system of hazard pay for town employees at their meeting Tuesday night.
Using American Relief Plan Act funds, selectmen discussed hazard premium pay for town employees. There was discussion around the average amount of hours worked per week for some employees versus others in terms of the rate at which people should receive the premium pay, much of the discussion taking place in regards to emergency personnel.
“A couple of things that I do want to throw out after our last discussion: they’re on-call 24 hours a day, no other staff member in town is; that’s one thing to keep in mind is they’re always on call,” Selectperson Keith Swett said. “The second piece that was brought to my attention is the fact that hazard pay means that you’re in a hazardous situation, and a firefighter going out of someone’s house or an accident or something is much more likely to run into a problem than the person in the office with a mask on, behind a shield, so there are other things that do come into play.”
Selectperson Tom Saviello, as well as the board’s chairperson David Leavitt, spoke in agreement and posed the question of how to differentiate between the higher risk-taking employees and other personnel. Leavitt stated that they wouldn’t want to alienate members of the fire department from each other. Saviello pointed out that police officers are in the same on-call bracket and are equally exposed to pandemic risks. Selectperson Tiffany Maiuri expressed her agreement that there needs to be an understanding of the differences between types of hazard.
“It’s a higher level of hazard for those who have direct contact with potential covid-related people. Because that’s what this hazard pay is about; it’s not just about keeping the town going, it’s about the potential risk,” Leavitt said.
Saviello suggested $1,250 for police, as well as $1,250 for the fire chief and those at the top of that list, and leaving the rest at $1,000. They continued to move down the extensive list to review hours and the amount of hazard payments in a tiered fashion, with the next tier being at $750. Maiuri agreed with the numbers, calling them fair and equitable. It was then suggested to change the top tier, for the personnel most exposed to pandemic risks—police—to $1,500.
Saviello motioned to accept the suggested numbers, and after some clarifying discussion about the approval process for proceeding with spending the funds, the vote to approve was unanimous.
The town’s annual investment policy portfolio was discussed.
“As you remember, we have three accounts with Portland Trust Company. It is the cemetery funds, the recreation funds and the main purse. They’ve all done very well this year, but annually you have to make sure you’re still investing where you want to invest,” advised Town Manager Rhonda Irish. “What you have chosen over the years is not maximum growth, but growth 70/30…so your growth is the objective of those whose primary investment is growth and capital value…it’s a smaller fixed income and more on some of the things that could give you potentially higher returns,” she said.
Irish then asked the board about their continued satisfaction with the investment plan.
It was the consensus of the board that no changes be made as the plan is a long-term investment plan. The vote was unanimous.
