Members of the Kingston Budget Committee spent a substantial portion of the March 26 meeting discussing employee compensation, reviewing local salary comparisons and the town’s plan to commission a professional wage-matrix (salary-study) to standardize pay ranges and job descriptions.

Budget committee member Anne Marie Roth presented sample salaries from neighboring Portsmouth and other regional municipalities, noting that some Kingston pay rates appear comparable to larger towns despite Kingston’s smaller population. Roth said she wanted the committee to be aware of those comparisons before the next budget cycle.

Committee members reiterated a longer-standing request for a formal salary study. The select board has directed staff to put out an RFQ/RFP for a consulting firm to develop a wage matrix and map Kingston job descriptions to comparable positions, the committee was told. Select board staff indicated proposals are being solicited and that, if procured on schedule, the study could be complete by late summer; any compensation adjustments would be retroactive if the select board adopts changes later.

The committee discussed why the professional study is necessary: volunteers attempting earlier comparisons lacked consistent job descriptions and organization charts across towns, which made job-to-job salary comparisons unreliable. As one member summarized, job-title comparisons can be misleading unless they are paired with detailed job descriptions and org charts.

Members asked for a firm timeline so the wage-matrix results could inform the coming budget season and for completed job descriptions to be part of the consultant’s scope. The select board representative said staff (Glenn) is preparing RFQs and expects proposals quickly; the aim cited at the meeting was to have consultant work done by the end of the summer so budget decisions in fall and winter would rest on the completed analysis.

Committee members noted the matrix would help resolve recurring questions about pay pools, part-time versus full-time roles, and the town’s ability to competitively recruit and retain staff. The committee requested the consultant’s final report and job-description mappings be available well ahead of budget deliberations to allow the committee to incorporate any recommended changes into its requests to the select board.

No funding decision was made at the meeting beyond confirming that money for a consultant is in the select board’s proposed budget and that retroactive pay adjustments would be considered after the study’s completion.