Personnel Board pauses second-phase pay raises

Personnel Board · Meeting of October 21, 2026

SHUTESBURY — The Shutesbury Personnel Board paused a planned second round of employee pay increases after finding errors in its salary study and flagged several town jobs paid below regional medians. Member Ann Brigham served as temporary chairperson, with Secretary Kathy Salvador and Member Veronica Richter also voting; Jim Walton and Meredith Pustell were absent. Staffer Haley Bolton told the board the police chief is paid "almost $13 less than the median salary for a police chief in Franklin County," with the fire chief, highway superintendent and highway equipment operators also below median, the latter by roughly 13.5 percent.

Members gave verbal assent to a letter notifying employees that cost-of-living raises continue but second-phase "alignment" increases are on hold pending a data reverification. Members separately approved, 3-0, revised fire department job description language on training requirements and continued review of the town clerk's job description without a vote.

In the full story:

• Call to Order and Attendance
• Letter to Staff on Salary Study Pause
• Preliminary FY28 Salary Alignment Findings
• EEO and Affirmative Action Status
• Job Description Review: Fire Department
• Job Description Review: Town Accountant / Tax Collector
• Job Description Review: Town Clerk
• Scheduling and Adjournment
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,576 words

Source: the Personnel Board meeting of October 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.