Posted by: Greg Maker
FISHKILL, N.Y. – Court employees in the town of Fishkill are asking for a salary raise comparable to nearby municipalities; however, with a tight budget and many fiscal challenges facing the town that may prove difficult. The town was recently declared “fiscally stressed” by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli,
Judge Harold Epstein petitioned the Town Board for raises for court personnel including judges and clerks at its meeting Wednesday night. Epstein said that if salaries are raised, it will increase both morale and productivity.
“Our clerks go above and beyond their duties,” Epstein said. “They didn’t have to do grant applications but they took the initiative to do it anyway. A good clerk is invaluable to the court and we’re lucky to have three very good ones.”
Epstein didn’t say how much of an increase court employees are looking for but said that they make significantly less than their colleagues in the bordering towns of Wappinger and East Fishkill. Court clerks in Wappinger make approximately $55,000 annually, while those in East Fishkill make approximately $70,000 per year. In comparison, court clerks in Fishkill make about $37,000. Additionally, judges in Wappinger make just under $27,000 while East Fishkill pays judges about $31,500 per year. Judges in Fishkill currently make $23,500.
“Our salaries are not even close to being comparable,” Epstein said. “We are asking for a fair increase in salary to compensate our clerks for the fantastic job they do. I don’t expect our chief clerk’s salary to go up to what they make in East Fishkill and Wappinger but it has been years since we received a specific pay increase.”
Supervisor Bob LaColla said that one compromise is to increase number of hours that court personnel work .Court offices have been operating from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and LaColla said that town could consider increasing the workday by two hours by keeping the offices open until 5 p.m.
“I see court clerks here early everyday and I agree with the judge,” LaColla said. “I asked for all department heads to consider the benefits to any increases either in salary or for town projects. However, if we entertain every department head request it would be a 63 percent increase in taxes across the board. We need to keep in mind that we still have roughly $5 million in deficit.”
Epstein said that court employees haven’t asked for salary increases or money for court equipment recently because they’ve gotten grants from New York State that provided everything from copy machines to computers and cash registers.
Councilman Tim Tuttle said that since the town ranks close to the Top 10 across the state in revenue, it should be able to afford some type of salary increase.
Councilman Kurt Buck said that the Town Board should at least take a look at the court employees’ request.
“Maybe we can cut other places like holding off on road repair for another year until we get another budget,” Buck said.
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