Kingston officials approved the towns proposed 2025 operating budget and a package of spending adjustments Tuesday, including funding for a professional wage and classification study and a new salary-adjustment pool intended to address inequities raised during the meeting.

The budget committee voted to forward the operating budget — shown in the meeting as $9,961,369 — after separate votes to add $20,500 to the consulting line for a compensation study and to add $80,000 to a renamed "salary adjustment" line (formerly labeled "pay for performance"). Select-board and budget members also approved warrant articles to create two full-time firefighter-paramedic positions, convert the part-time land-use administrative position to full time, add $50,000 to the fire apparatus capital-reserve fund and withdraw $735,000 from that fund to buy a replacement tanker.

Why it matters: Committee members spent substantial time on employee pay fairness and on ways to avoid a repeat of past confusion about a never-formally-adopted wage matrix. Several members said town hall and public-works employees had lagged behind police and fire in prior adjustments, prompting calls for an impartial study and a one-time pool to bring underpaid staff closer to market without adopting an open-ended "pay-for-performance" approach.

Budget and wage discussion

Committee members repeatedly returned to the wage matrix issue and whether prior pay increases for police and fire created inequities with other departments. A budget committee member summarized the compromise reached in the meeting: "The only thing guaranteed is the COLA, which is 3.2%." A select-board member who proposed leaving a wage pool in the budget said staff would account for every dollar spent from the pool and that "whatever is not spent on wages ... would be returned directly to the voters, would not become part of the general fund." Those two commitments were central to persuading several members to approve the adjustments.

The committee voted to place $20,500 in the consulting and outside-services account specifically to pay for an external compensation/wage-classification study; during debate one member cited an approximate vendor estimate of $18,000 to perform a full wage and classification study for about 45 job classifications. Committee members said they want the consultant product ready for budget planning before the 2026 cycle.

To address immediate pay concerns, the board renamed the existing "pay for performance" line to "salary adjustment" and approved adding $80,000 to that line. Members clarified the pool is not an across-the-board guaranteed raise for every employee; the COLA (cost‑of‑living adjustment) already in the budget is a separate, universal increase. Department heads were designated to assess and request transfers from the salary-adjustment line into their budgets if specific raises are recommended.

Votes at a glance

- Add $20,500 to consulting/outside-services (line 4130-08) to fund a compensation study: approved.
- Add $80,000 to the salary-adjustment line (formerly "pay for performance"): approved.
- Approve 2025 operating budget (Article 9, $9,961,369 as presented): approved.
- Article 10 (authorize 1.5% early-payment property-tax deduction): approved.
- Article 11 (establish contingency fund; amended to $50,000): approved.
- Article 12 (create two full-time firefighter-paramedic positions; $149,808.88 for nine months): approved.
- Article 13 (convert part-time planning/zoning administrative position to one full-time land-use administrator): approved (one sentence of explanatory text removed by amendment to comply with guidance).
- Article 14 (raise $50,000 to add to the fire-apparatus replacement capital reserve fund): approved.
- Article 15 (withdraw $735,000 from the fire apparatus CRF to purchase a tanker, contingent on Article 14): approved.

Public-safety and capital items

The fire chief told the committee the town needs two paramedic positions now as part of a multi-year plan to reduce reliance on regional ALS transport shortfalls. "Medics and EMTs alike do save lives," the chief said, explaining the town currently has full-time staff in medic training and that two hires would increase paramedic coverage across shifts. The committee approved Article 12, which funds nine months of salaries, benefits and uniforms for the two positions.

Committee members also approved two linked fire-apparatus articles: one to add $50,000 to the capital-reserve fund and a second to withdraw $735,000 from that reserve to purchase a 2001 KME tanker replacement. The chief said lead times for apparatus are long (up to 36 months), and that buying now avoids an urgent scramble if the existing 2001 tanker becomes unusable. Staff said proceeds from any sale or trade of the old tanker would return to the capital-reserve fund.

Process and next steps

Members asked staff to treat the $80,000 salary-adjustment pool as a tracked appropriation: each transfer from that line into department budgets will be documented and any dollars not spent on wages and benefits will be returned to voters, per the motion sponsor's pledge. The committee also directed that the external wage-classification study be funded from the consulting line and that the select board and town staff start the procurement process (three quotes or an RFP as required by town purchasing thresholds).

What was not decided

Committee members debated exact formulas for distributing salary adjustments, whether to do pay-for-performance or use step/ceiling adjustments, and how many medics the town would ultimately need to guarantee paramedic coverage. The committee approved a time-limited, practical approach (consultant + one-time pool) and asked staff to report results and spending back to the committee.

Ending

With the set of amendments approved, the committee recorded a final vote to forward the budget package to the town warrant with the revisions described above. Committee members asked staff to provide the consultant report and post-expenditure accounting for the salary-adjustment monies during subsequent meetings so voters and future budgets have clearer, less subjective footing for pay decisions.