Winchester voters back police pay raise

By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff

WINCHESTER — A warrant article to raise the pay of Winchester police officers to be more competitive with other communities received support from the majority of voters at deliberative session Saturday.
The article, if passed at a town meeting on March 11, would give officers and other employees of the Winchester Police Department an 8 percent raise effective July 1. The raises, which include payroll expenses, would add $35,756 to the town’s operating budget, Selectman Sherman Tedford said.

They would also be on top of an up to 3 percent merit raise all town employees would receive if the town’s 2014-15 budget passes.

As an SB2 town, Winchester residents are allowed to discuss and amend town meeting warrant articles during a deliberative session. The meeting is then adjourned until March when residents vote by ballot on the warrant articles.

Originally, the warrant article about the police department raises had listed an amount of $28,576. Tedford said the amount didn’t include the payroll expenses, and he made a motion Saturday to amend the article, which was seconded by Selectman Theresa G. Sepe before being approved by voters.

Police Chief Gary A. Phillips passionately explained to approximately 70 voters attending the meeting at the town hall why they should back the warrant article, which the selectmen unanimously recommended.

“We have a problem being competitive with these other towns,” he said, as his wife handed out copies of a two-page packet to voters. “We have a problem maintaining our quality people.”

The packet included information from the Local Government Center showing Winchester’s police department employee salaries for 2013 being from 11 to 28 percent below the 2012 state average — depending on the position — for towns with a population of 2,000-4,999.

For example, the state average salary for a patrolman in communities of this size in 2012 was $41,923. In Winchester, patrolmen are paid either $36,956 or $37,127.

Winchester has a population of 4,341, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Had is the key word ..

The packet also included information from the N.H. Occupational Employment and Wages 2012 survey, which further showed Winchester police officers are being paid less than their counterparts in the area.

Besides providing incentive for officers to stay with the Winchester Police Department, increasing the salaries will help the town better protect its investment of having to train and outfit the officers when they’re hired, Phillips said.

Often times, Winchester officers go to work for other area police departments after two to three years, which is the time it takes to be fully trained and have proven themselves, he said.

It costs roughly $18,000-$20,000 to train and outfit an officer, and for that upfront expense, it’s good if they hang around for a while, he said.

Voters extensively scrutinized a warrant article Saturday to appropriate $5,000 for the operation and maintenance of the Sheridan House by the Winchester Historical Society.

Neither the Winchester Board of Selectmen nor the budget committee recommended the petition warrant article, which prompted several questions and statements from voters.

“In the situation we are in right now, we might not exist next year,” historical society Treasurer Elena M. Heiden said.

The Sheridan House, which is on Back Ashuelot Road, is a museum of the town’s history. Besides housing several artifacts, a barn on the property shelters some of Winchester’s historic fire equipment.

The organization relies on membership fees, donations and fundraisers to generate revenue, but it’s having trouble making ends meet as of late, she said.

“We had a major situation with our furnace where it was leaking water, and we have a $632 bill we still haven’t paid yet,” she said.

In addition, heating oil was recently delivered to the house, which has to be kept at a certain temperature so the historical items inside don’t get damaged, she said.

Sepe said she supports the Sheridan House, but she voted against recommending the article because no one who submitted it came to the selectmen to explain what the $5,000 would be used for.

Erin G. Robb, who submitted the petition warrant article, then apologized to the board for not getting that information to them.

“I truly didn’t give it a thought after I got the signatures (for the petition),” she said.

Robb is president of the historical society board of trustees.

In the future, that information will be provided to the selectmen, she said.

Voters approved the warrant article for the ballot.

Voters also approved amending a petition warrant article that sought to require the town clerk and tax collector’s office to remain open twice a month on Wednesday nights until 8 p.m.

The amended version seeks to have the town clerk and tax collector’s office continue to operate under the hours currently in place, from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Resident Kenneth Cole said he submitted the warrant article because he wanted people to have better access to the town clerk and tax collector’s office.

His proposal was immediately met with opposition from selectmen, other residents and James M. Tetreault, Winchester town clerk and tax collector.

The town clerk and tax collector’s office is open at the same time as other town offices in the town hall.

“As a selectman, I’m not putting one person in this building at night,” Tedford said. “It’s a security issue.”

Tetreault said it makes no sense for his office to be open at night because state support for motor vehicle transactions shuts down for the day at 6 p.m.

For residents who can’t make it to town hall during business hours, he can make arrangements with them to register their vehicles, he said.

“We’ll work with you,” he said.

During the roughly four-hour deliberative session, voters approved an amended warrant article about appropriating $3,298,617 for the town’s 2014-15 proposed operating budget.

The number is a decrease of $15,644 from the $3,314,261 in the original warrant article. The proposed $3,298,617 budget represents a decrease of $119,044 from the 2013-14 budget of $3,417,661. It’s also less than the default budget of $3,314,261.

The Winchester Board of Selectmen recommended the change because it’s important for three or four other spending articles on the warrant to pass, Tedford said.

Those warrant articles, which were approved, included a seven-year lease and purchase agreement for a new custom pumper fire truck, and a five-year lease and purchase agreement for a new dump truck with plow and sander equipment.

“We found some areas where we can reduce the budget and hopefully not reduce services,” Tedford said. “I believe with these changes, we’ll be able to hold the line with the tax rate.”

The 32-article warrant will now go before residents to vote on by ballot on March 11.

Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.