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.