Mayor: Pay Raise for One Employee Sets Precedent

A resolution that awarded a Borough of Caldwell employee a more than $7,000 raise was met with some skepticism Tuesday night as other non-union municipal workers have gone without a pay increase for three years.

"This is setting a precedent," Mayor Susan Gartland warned.

Council voted 4-to-1—with Councilman Kay Slattery opposed and Councilman Joseph Norton absent from the meeting—to increase the salary of Antoinette Canova, the borough's assistant treasurer, from $42,745 to $50,000, effective July 1.

"This person works with the CFO. We took a look at this position and what the responsibilities of that position have been over the course of the last couple of years," Borough Administrator Paul Carelli said. "There were some added responsibilities—significant added responsibilities—to that position that were not compensated for in the past.

"Part of this is what we felt was a fair pay for that position. There will be added responsibilities that this person will have the second half of the year and going forward." 

According to Carelli, these additional duties will include some functions that had been performed by Rebecca Roth, the borough's tax collector who resigned more than a month ago.

However, Slattery questioned if other borough employees, who perform duties beyond the scope of their job descriptions, will also be eligible for pay increases.

"Any time we would add responsibilities, I would assume that we would look at that," Carelli responded. "I don't think it's fair to add significant responsibilities without being compensated for it. But that would be an individual basis. We are in a situation where we had a tax collector who had many duties."

According to Carelli, some of these responsibilities will now be considered part of the assistant treasurer's position and will no longer be intended for a tax collector when a new one is hired.

However, Gartland remained concerned that other non-union employees, in particular department heads, are already performing more tasks than initially required without additional compensation.

"Just as an observation, there are a number of department heads and employees that have ended up having to take on additional responsibilities because they were not permitted to hire additional people. I know, for whatever reason, an individual was gone and the combined forces of whether it be the library or the community center, took on the responsibility of whoever had left," Gartland said.

"I think if we're willing to do this for one, we need to be very careful that in the future that if there is anyone taking on additional responsibility or someone leaves and that responsibility is divided amongst other people that all of those individuals are definitely considered for compensation as a result of this. This is setting a precedent."

Slattery opposed the $7,255 raise for the assistant treasurer and remained an advocate for all of the borough's non-union employees receiving a salary increase.

In an effort to provide raises to these employees, Slattery voted earlier this year against awarding Gregory Seaman, the borough's sewer director, a total compensation of $36,000 after he agreed to a salary of $22,000, which Councilman Gordon Lawshe called a "clerical error."

Lawshe criticized Tuesday night previous administrations, pointing out significant raises that were provided to employees in 2005 and 2006 as a potential cause for salaries to be frozen the past several years.

Lawshe said he was "astounded" when he and "some fellow colleagues" recently examined the pay increases during 2005 and 2006 that included one employee's salary raised from $17,500 to $25,000 in one year.

"I know Councilman Slattery over the months has always said she feels bad that none of the borough employees have gotten raises over the years. We all feel the same way," Lawshe said. "But when in 2005 and 2006 people are getting 17, 15 and 12 percent pay increases, maybe that's the reason why we couldn't pay anybody the last two years. We didn't have any money."

In addition, Lawshe said it appeared the salary increases from those years were not passed by resolution—a measure Borough Attorney Greg Mascera said is required for all positions created by ordinance.

"The taxpayers and the town should know where their money is going," Lawshe said. "You're getting a $7,500 increase [from $17,500 to $25,000] in pay in one year's period of time, which is a 30 percent pay increase. Something smells here and then when you go back and look and there's no resolution on it, it smells even worse."