Saugus pay rates near rock bottom

SAUGUS – According to a salary survey conducted by an outside contractor, town employees are closer to the bottom of the pay scale when compared to their North Shore counterparts.Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said the salary survey was conducted as part of an overall Human Resources study. He said the idea for the study came out of discussions with the Finance Committee.”We had a personnel manual done and (salaries) were part of the process,” he said.Bisignani said the manual covers job descriptions, classifications and compensation plans and offers proposed changes for fiscal year 2009. He said it was put together so he could answer the questions fired at him most often by the Finance Committee, Town Meeting members and the Board of Selectmen.Bisignani said there have been a number of changes in job descriptions and, with the changes, some employees received raises for taking on extra work.”We wanted to be sure they were being adequately and fairly compensated,” he said.But a quick glance at the salary study shows that while they may be fairly compensated for their work under the town’s guidelines, most employees are under the mark compared to their counterparts in other communities.The report covers non-union positions and gives several figures to chew on. It gives the starting salary per job per community, the figure an employee would top out at and an average of 11 communities compared to Saugus.The communities used in the comparison include Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford, Danvers, Dedham, Lynnfield, North Andover, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham (FY2006) and Winthrop.The report shows that Wendy Reed, clerk to the Board of Selectmen, is woefully underpaid compared to her counterparts who make 21 percent more than she on the low end and 60 percent more on the high end.Town Clerk Joanne Rappa also takes a hit compared to her colleagues in other communities. Rappa, who makes $53,465, takes home 10 percent less than the average starting salary in other communities and 25 less on the high end of the scale.Police Chief James MacKay, who makes $98,818, is on the high end of the average starting salaries, but comes in 5 percent below the average top salary.Bisignani also comes in under the mark despite his $97,375 salary. The average starting salary for a town manager in other communities is $121,313 while the average top salary is $123,079.Dedham clocked in with the highest town manager salary at $130,400 while Billerica pays the highest Town Clerk salary at $90,804. MacKay might also want to consider life in Billerica, since it came in with the highest police chief salary as well: $135,541.The report was paid for through an appropriation at last year’s Town Meeting and conducted by Human Resources Services Inc. though the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC).According to the introduction in the report, the study’s main objective was to determine the “compensation market competitiveness and internal job equity for all non-union positions within its municipal workforce.”Bisignani said the report was largely to put an end to outside concerns.”It is also to make sure we are operating within the law,” he said. “It covers standards and policies and puts things like job descriptions in writing so when a taxpayer, an employee or a town official has a question, I can answer it.”