EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA
Merrimack Valley
Andover selectmen consider raise for town manager
Pay increase would be first in nearly 2 years
Published: October 14, 2008
ANDOVER — Town Manager Reginald "Buzz" Stapczynski's $126,500 base salary is nearly 10 percent less than what other comparable communities are paying their top administrators.
The average salary of town managers and administrators in 13 area communities considered similar to Andover is $141,122, according to data being reviewed by selectmen.
Board members said they would like to close that gap, but must first determine an affordable pay increase for Stapczynski, whose last raise was granted in January 2007.
"What we'd like to do and what we can afford to do are definitely different," said Selectman Mary Lyman. "We certainly can't do it all at once."
Stapczynski is making $14,622 less than the average town manager and town administrator on the list of base salaries and other benefits of top officials from communities that include Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, North Andover and Winchester.
Selectman Brian Major said many officials on the list of comparable towns have been in their positions for fewer years than Stapczynski or manage smaller operating budgets.
Stapczynski is in his 18th year as Andover's town manager.
"If you look at what he's responsible for," Major said, "he operates a pretty substantial business, and he does so very well."
If it is determined in the coming months that Stapczynski will receive a raise, Selectman Jerry Stabile said the board will likely adopt a tiered approach that eventually puts him on par with other officials on the list compiled by the town.
"The thought process was that if we were to take action to get him in line with the average salary, we'd probably have to do it over a multiyear period," Stabile said. "We'd probably break it out over two or three years."
Stabile said awarding Stapczynski a significant raise could lead to complaints from Andover's employee unions, four of which remain in negotiations with the town.
Andover's eight municipal employee unions have recently agreed to or are being offered 8.5 percent cost-of-living raises by the town over three years.
"It's probably going to rub people in the labor groups the wrong way," Stabile said. "It's probably going to rub some of the taxpayers wrong."
Stabile said an increase to the town manager's base salary would keep Andover competitive with other similar communities offering higher pay.
"From my perspective, it's mitigating the risk that he would potentially leave just because we weren't paying a competitive salary," Stabile said. "We're underpaying our town manager."
On top of his annual base salary, Stapczynski receives a $4,000 pre-tax contribution toward his pension each year and $2,100 for long-term disability and life insurance.
He also drives a town vehicle for business and personal use.
Stapczynski is working under a five-year contract that expires in June 2010.
Selectmen are required in the contract to renegotiate Stapczynski's salary on an annual basis. Yearly performance reviews are also required.
The board expects to complete Stapczynski's 2008 review within the next month and present it publicly in either November or December, said Selectmen Chairman Ted Teichert.
Both Teichert and Selectman Alex Vispoli declined to comment on Stapczynski's salary.
"If we do anything, it will probably be announced at that time," Teichert said of a potential raise for Stapczynski. "I don't want to talk about compensation until we announce it publicly."
