March 29, 2024
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Town to consider council pay raise Houlton to discuss increasing stipend from $500 to $1,000 at Jan. meeting

HOULTON – Public service could pay bigger dividends if town councilors give the nod to an increase in each member’s annual stipend.

A motion to raise the councilor stipend from $500 to $1,000 per year will be introduced at the Jan. 11 Town Council meeting, along with a motion to increase the chairman’s salary from $600 to $1,200 per year.

The final decision will come after a public hearing, as the group must go through the ordinance process to secure the increase. A raise would affect only future councils because the current board cannot increase the stipend for itself.

“None of us are doing this to get rich by any means,” Councilor Paul Cleary said during a recent meeting. “We were told that being a councilor meant going to two meetings a month. … It is not two meetings a month. … As a councilor, you can put a lot of time into this.”

Gerald Adams, who is now council chairman, broached the topic in September. He later withdrew the request in light of a looming tax cap referendum, which many thought would strip the town of most of its assets. The referendum was defeated statewide Nov. 2.

The current pay covers the roughly 24 meetings a year, along with additional committee meetings. The salary was $850 per year in the 1980s, but was subsequently lowered.

Not all councilors were keen on the idea of making more money, however.

“When I put my name on the ticket, I knew what I’d be paid,” Councilor Carl Lord said Monday evening. “It would be nice but, no thanks, just because I didn’t take [the position] for the money.”

Councilor Paul Romanelli said he thinks the money that members receive is “fine.” He questioned the timing of the move, as the group is developing a municipal budget.

“Personally, I’d feel a little guilty telling a group that I’m not funding them or cutting a department,” he said, “and in the next breath giving myself a raise.”

Chairman Adams said he didn’t think asking for a pay hike was “selfish.”

“I have no problem whether the stipend is raised or not,” he told the board. “I can go either way … but I don’t even want to get out there what the [Aroostook] county commissioners make, and that’s for attending one meeting per month.”

Stipends differ in neighboring towns and cities across Aroostook County. In Caribou, city councilors make $800, and Madawaska selectmen receive $2,000 per year.

One member pointed out that the group could actually end up lowering the stipend as a result of future discussions and public input.

“I know that some people out there think that we should do this for nothing,” Cleary admitted on Monday evening, adding that only one councilor has ever refused to take any payment for his services. “And that councilor is not sitting here tonight.”


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