AMHERST — Annual stipend increases for those serving on the Town Council are being recommended by the Finance Committee, but the adjustments fall short of a proposal brought forward by councilors in March.
The Finance Committee late last week voted 4-1 to support a raise from the $5,000-a-year stipends for councilors, established when the charter was adopted five years ago, to $7,500 a year, and the council president’s stipend to rise from $7,500 to $9,500.
Voting in favor of this plan were Griesemer, Finance Committee Chairman Andy Steinberg, District 1 Councilor Cathy Schoen and District 5 Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier. The two community members of the Finance Committee in attendance, Bob Hegner and Matt Holloway, also supported the adjustment.
Devlin Gauthier voted in favor, adding “but I believe it should be higher and plan for advocating such.”
The changes were suggested as a way to get more people to run for office from a variety of racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
“Increasing diversity in town governance is an essential part of Amherst’s commitment to being a more equitable, just and inclusive community,” Walker and Miller wrote. “Representation matters, and for many having a seat at the table would (and does) come at a significant cost.”
Amherst’s discussion came after the Northampton City Council voted to boost its stipends from $9,000 to $16,931, with the council president earning $21,164.
But some on the Finance Committee called the city an outlier.
Walker said she wasn’t sure why, noting that generally, smaller communities pay smaller stipends. Walker said Amherst is of comparable size to Northampton.
The Finance Committee also supported the use of $5,000 as a pilot program to support family care for councilors. Walker said she’s concerned that people who might use this would have to pay first and then be reimbursed, though state law prohibits providing the money upfront.
The committee suggested that during the mandated 2024 charter review, the commission established should recommend changes to the sections that include the $3,000 salaries for School Committee members and the compensation for the library trustees, neither of which have mandated provisions for salary adjustments.
One possibility would be setting something up like the Elected Officials Compensation Advisory Board in Northampton, which arose out of a charter review process there.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.