Clinton Finance Committee Votes 3-2 to Cut Assistant Town Administrator Budget to $111,000

CLINTON — May 21, 2026 — Clinton's Finance Committee approved its final fiscal year budget May 21 after voting 3-2 to reduce the budgeted salary for the assistant town administrator from $125,000 to $111,000, the bottom of the position's newly reclassified range. The committee also left unfunded a $28,000 request that would have extended the town's economic development consultant contract beyond its ARPA-funded expiration on December 31, 2026. Select Board members Mary Rose Dickout and Bill Conley Jr., both speaking as private citizens at the public hearing, opposed both items — Dickout calling the consultant's $77-an-hour rate out of step with town employee pay scales, and Conley arguing the $125,000 midpoint was "very aggressive" for an unproven hire. Town Administrator Michael Ward noted the $111,000 budget line does not prevent a higher-salary hire but would require a transfer request to fund the difference. The adjusted budget, with $14,000 moved out of the salary line and off the tax levy, was then approved unanimously; the committee will convene at 6:30 p.m. June 1 to issue recommendations on outstanding union contract articles before the 7 p.m. Annual Town Meeting.