Elected officials in the city of Little Falls will have to wait to receive a pay raise.
At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Common Council, Second Ward Alderman Gregory Santry, chairman of the Finance Committee, made the recommendation that the matter be tabled.
“After a round of discussions and some exploration, the recommendation from the committee is that this matter should be tabled at this time,” said Santry.
“With the number of people who are out of work and looking for a job, now is not the time to be considering raises,” said Second Ward Alderwoman Betty Deming. “I am not saying that the mayor or council members do not deserve a raise, but this is not the right time to be talking about them. There are just to many people out of work or who are on hard times for us to consider this.”
The vote to table the matter was unanimous.
Citing that the mayor and alderpersons have not received an increase in salary since the Eisenhower administration, the Common Council voted 6-1 last month in favor of the Finance Committee exploring the matter. At that meeting, council President Mark Ruffing said the officials do not receive benefits and that many of them serve as committee heads that require numerous additional hours.
“As I said before nobody does it for the money, but we would like to be compensated for the time we put in,” said Ruffing. “Currently we are the lowest paid elected officials in the county. All we are asking for is to be paid what others in similar jobs are compensated for.”
Common council members currently receive an annual salary of $1,200.
The mayor is currently paid an annual salary of $3,800.
In other business Tuesday:
•The council authorized the issuance of a $600,000 tax anticipation note.
Treasurer David Petkovsek said the council borrows a similar amount each year to cover expenses incurred at the end of March and in early April, as city tax revenues do not start to come in until May.
“This source of revenue has only been used once in the last six years, and that was last year, but generally speaking it provides a safety net that the city can fall back on,” said Petkovsek.
•Sewer rates will remain the same as last year and the year before, at $63 per unit per quarter for residential properties and $81 per unit per quarter for commercial and industrial properties.
Little Falls, N.Y. —
