Borough assembly votes itself a slight raise

PALMER — The borough assembly voted 4-3 on Tuesday for a slight raise to the amount its members are paid.

The vote essentially changed the way the assembly’s compensation is calculated. Until Tuesday, the borough’s number-crunchers separated assembly members’ salaries — $6,000 per year — from expenses incurred doing borough business — $7,300 is allotted per year per assembly member.

The change lumps those two numbers together which, while keeping compensation constant, would give a bump to retirement benefits the assembly members already receive. The retirement calculation is based on a percentage of each member’s compensation.

Borough Finance Director Tammy Clayton said adding together the additional benefits for the members, the deputy mayor and the borough mayor, the change amounts to an additional $3,300 between now and the end of the fiscal year, and then $13,300 each year.

Three people spoke about the measure during the public comment section of the meeting, all opposed.

Penny Nixon, a familiar face at borough meetings and in conservative Valley politics, used words like “tyranny” to describe the move.

Assemblyman Tom Kluberton asked Borough Attorney Nick Spiropoulos if there wasn’t a conflict of interest since the assembly was voting on a change in its own pay. Spiropoulos said that in a situation like this where no one else can vote on the matter, the assembly has to.

The measure eventually passed 4-3 with Kluberton joining Assemblymen Rob Wells and Mark Ewing in opposition. Assemblywoman Cindy Bettine pointed out that there was a fairness issue here.

“This is a fair thing to do being that we are paying taxes on the whole, total amount,” Bettine said.

Another point raised was that both seats up for election last year were unopposed. Members who voted for the change expressed hope that it might encourage more people to run.

“We can’t simply rely on people who are retired to do this job,” Assemblywoman Michelle Church said. “You’re limiting the number of people who are able to serve, who want to serve their community.”

On the other side of the issue, Assemblyman Mark Ewing said the borough is heading into a tight financial year.

Referring to Public Employee Retirement System by it’s acronym, he said, “It may be just another $13,000 a year in PERS but the buck stops here.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.