Finance, Wage & Personnel Standing Committee

FIFTEEN ROPE FERRY ROAD
WATERFORD, CT 06385-2886
PHONE: 860-442-0553
www.waterfordct.org
AGENDA
FINANCE, WAGE & PERSONNEL STANDING COMMITTEE of the RTM
SPECIAL MEETING
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
6:30 P.M. - Waterford Town Hall
Louise Appleby Room
1. Call to Order
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Roll Call
4. Public Comment
5. To consider and act upon the January 20, 2022 Meeting Minutes.
6. Consideration and possible action on item referred to committee:
A. Salaries of Registrar of Voters. (RTC 12-05-2022)
7. Adjournment
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PIBTEEN ROPE BERRY- ROAD
; : PHONE! §60"442°0553°
WATERFORD, CT 06385-2886
wwwiwaterfordet.org.
Thursday, January 20, 2022
7:00. P.M. - Waterford‘ Town Hall,
The January 20, 2022 Special Meeting of the Finance, Wage & Personnel Stariding Cominittee
of the RTM was called to otder by Chairperson Kevin Girard at ‘7:00 P.M.
Present: Danielle Steward-Gelinas, Kevin Giratd (Chait), Jetnifer Koh!, Cheryl Larder, Michael
Roochetti
Absent: Nene.
Also. Attending: Director of Finanee Kim Allen
Nate
AGENDA ITEM 5: March 18, 2027 Minutes
Discussion of how to proceed since no members were present on March 18, 2021.
No action taken.
AGENDA ITEM 6: January 10,'2022 Minutes
MOTION by Steward-Gelings, secotided by Rocchetti, to.apprave-the minutes from the January
16, 2022 meeting:
VOTING IN FAVOR: Unatimous
AGENDA ITEM 6:8 OF FI OI
‘K. Allen provided clarification of reports tovided to the committee 1 showing actual, paymeits.to.
elected officials, She explained why” percentage increases-calculated ‘from actual payments may
not exactly match percentage ittcreases the RTM had approved. ‘She assured the éormiittee that
percentage iticreases: are paid on a base salary basis; not inclusive of any additional
compensation an: official may’ receive beyond salary for valid reasons.
Lengthy discussion ensued by the:committee on elected official salaries,
Motion made by D. Steward-Gelinas, secorided by J. Kohl to recommend to the Representative.

Town Mesting to annually increase elected official salaries by the least of the following,
effective July 1, 2022:
a.) Percentage increase of the CPI-U from July of the preceding fiscal year,
b.) Half (S0%) of the percentage increase approved for non-union management,
¢.) One point five percent (1.5%)
VOTING IN FAVOR: Unanimous
MOTION by Steward-Gelinas, seconded by Kohl, to recommend to the Representative Town
Meeting that the item “Salaries of Elected Officials (RTC 02/01/2021)" be taken out of
committee.
VOTING IN FAVOR: Unanimous
Finance Director Kim Allen was actioned to provide base salary figures for FY 22 and the
official value for CPI-U from July 2021 to the committee for the purpose of accurately recording
this action by the committee.
MOTION by Steward-Gelinas, seconded by Kohl, to adjourn at 8:41 P.M.
VOTING IN FAVOR: Unanimous
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Girard
Chairman

Paul Galdstein September 24, 2022
RTM Moderator
Subject: Registrar af Voters (ROV) Salary: increase
Dear Mr.. Moderator,
The ROV are requesting a salary increase based on the requirements of the job expanding and the
growing emphasis.and scrutiny placed on the voting process over the last several years, A recent (July
2022) pay hike for elected officials inthe town of Waterford increased our yearly salary 1.1% from
$23,923.56 to where it currently sits-at $24,192.72.
Office duties have increased due to-the following:
DMV voter registration is now automatic unless the person opts out, Waterford voter rolls. now
top 14,000. More voters create more work processing changes.
Mote training required by the Secretary of the State for cybersecurity and new technology.
The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) Is.an organization that assists member
states in-improving the accuracy of its voter rolls. Meinbership in ERIC increases every year. Six
years.ago we started with 5 states and now that number stands. at 30. This is agood thing but it
generates Increased workload -during our Canvas season.
FOI requests have greatly increased.since 2020. These requests demand time to conduct
research to find the documents/answers they are looking for.
Longtime poll workers have left. Finding, hiring and training capable workers is taking increased
times. Each election/primary requires 30-40 workers,
The expansion of Absentee Ballot options has créated a surge of ballots to be processed.and
counted during the election. season requiring additional hires-and training,
To give you a sense of what other towns pay can prove difficult to show, The size of the town
determines how many hols a ROV will work and then even that Is difficult to. compare due to some
towns using their deputies/assistants in a more active role in day to day operations.
The following towns are similar in size to Waterford and run their offices like we do with the ROV's
doing the vast majority of the work and the deputies coming in at busy times of the year (elections,
canvas, special projects) unless we-are training someone new,
The populations are from the 2020 census. Town of Waterford population is 19,571,

East Lyme: (population 18,693)
ROV salary $30,000. In addition to their salary, they receive a $1,250 stipend for each election,
primary and referendum.
Montville: (population 18,387}
ROV salary $22,000, Jn addition to their salary, they receive a $375 stipend for each election,
primary and referendum.
Berlin: (population 20,175)
ROV salary $37,000
(Even though they are similar in size to Waterford, they have 1500 more registered voters).
Rocky Hill: (population 20,845)
ROV salary $26,500 (Their budget Includes $18,000 for their deputies as compared with our
$3,000 for deputies}
We are requesting an increase to $30,000 per year and asking the RTM to place it on the
upcoming agenda.
Thank you,
Patti Waters
Bigi Ebbin
cc: Rob Brule
Dave Campo
Christine Walters

Municipality
Mill
Rate
New
London
39.90
39,470
18,645
Survey Reports :: CT Municipal Salary Survey
313
42
5.5
28.3
32.8
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2016
SALARY
Council-Manager
Representative town meeting
28,410.90 $
23,221.00 $
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RECEIVED
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RECORD
WATERFORD.
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855
ATTEST:
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DREG-
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Registrar
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REG-
$
5,896.48
N/A
N/A
N/A
$17,724.44 $
N/A
-
$19,764.72
N/A
N/A N/A N/A
$
250.00
$
22,025.64
$
280.00
N/A
N/A
N/A
$
760.00
$
22,938.72
$
105.00
$
760.00
$
22,938.72
$
105.00
$
1,520.00
N/A
$
23,430.92
N/A
$
23,430.92
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
$ 23,781.72 $ - $12,096.36 $ 700.00
$
10,080.30
$
700.00
$
24,058.14
$
1,400.00
$
47,563.44

FIFTEEN ROPE FERRY ROAD
WATERFORD, CT 06385-2886
PHONE: 860-442-0553
www.waterfordct.org
December 12, 2022
Mr. Kevin Girard, Chair
Finance, Wage & Personnel Committee
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15 Rope Ferry Road BS
Waterford, CT 06385
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Dear Mr. Girard: fox)
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As Town Clerk | have intimate knowledge of what it takes to work elections. Much has
changed in the seven years that | have been in office and will continue to change, as
our State Constitution has just been amended to allow for early voting. We are very
fortunate to have had competent Registrar's of Voters in our Town. Throughout the
State this position, due to resignation and retirements, has turned over in many
municipalities. This is in no small part due to the stress, increased work load, change of
election law and the public’s mistrust of elections over the past few years.
| urge this committee to consider the request that the ROV's have put forth. |
understand that the hours worked at times may seem limited, but the training and
knowledge of elections is a highly fluid and complicated subject. Much of this is learned
over time and it is important that the town attracts and retains people that can
comprehend and accomplish the duties put forth by the State of Connecticut. The
negative attention that could be garnered by an election violation is not worth the
savings of not paying this position properly. It would also result in legal fees as well as a
loss of trust in our administration and local government officials. It should be known that
many towns pay this position a considerably higher rate than our current salary. Many of
the towns that pay equal or less are more than likely researching similar requests.
The Town of Waterford has avoided any kind of election violation due to the
professionalism of our election officials. Let us commit to retaining and attracting the
best Registrars we can find.
Sincerely,
Dad F Comper
David L. Campo, CCTC
Waterford Town Clerk