Shall the Town of Hampton vote to approve the cost items included in the collective bargaining agreement reached between the Hampton Board of Selectmen and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 633, which calls for the following increases in salaries and benefits at the current staffing level, over the amount paid in the prior fiscal year:
Estimated Increase
Fiscal Year (over previous year level)
2018 (39 weeks) $ 36,404
2019 (52 weeks) $ 53,483
2020 (52 weeks) $ 41,813
2021 (13 weeks) $ 8,975
And to further raise and appropriate $36,404 for the current fiscal year, such sum representing the additional costs attributable to the increase in salaries and benefits required by the new agreement over those that would be paid at current staffing levels?
What it means: A yes vote approves the salary increases of 2.7% each of the 3 years.
Who is represented:
At the Hampton Police Department: two Senior Secretary Positions, the Communications Specialist Supervisor, Communications Specialists, the Animal Control Officer and the Senior Custodian.
At the Public Works Department: Public Works Foreman, Public Works Operations Coordinator, Public Works Transfer Station Foreman and Vehicle Maintenance
At the Town Office: the Assistant Building Inspector, the Building Department Secretary, the Deputy Town Clerk, Assistant Clerks and the Bookkeeper in the Town Clerk’s Office, the Welfare Clerk, the Deputy Tax Collector, the Account Payable and Account Receivable Clerks and the Payroll Supervisor in the Finance Department.
Those in favor say: The employees who will benefit from the passage of Article 10 are “behind the scenes” folks who help you register your car, license your dog and remove unwanted critters from your property. From 2006 through 2017 the group of employees represented by Local 633 received average wage increases of one-half of one-percent, with no increase at all in 7 of the last 12 years. Social Security increases during that same period of time (for reference) averaged 2.5%. This means that our Town employees are lagging way behind the cost of living.
Those against say: No one spoke against this article at Deliberative Session.
Fiscal Impact: The average Hampton home valued at $408,000 would bear an increased tax cost of $6.53 in a 52-week period at current staffing levels. (Take your property value divided by 1000 and multiply by .016 to get your specific tax impact.)