Vandal gets merit bonus
Awarded in place of pay raise due to town’s financial situation
DRACUT >> Town Manager Ann Vandal received a $5,000 bonus from the Board of Selectmen at the board’s Nov. 21 meeting.
This action followed an October meeting during which she received a solid performance review of 3.9 on a scale of 5.
The bonus was awarded in place of a 3% salary increase, an amount already added to most town employees’ paychecks.
Dracut may be facing budget deficits extending out for an undetermined number of years.
As selectmen prepared to discuss Vandal’s compensation, the town manager left the meeting room. Before she departed, she told selectmen she’s aware of the town’s financial plight and would accept whatever the board decided, “whether it’s 0 or 20(%).”
Vandal recalled a conversation she had recently with Assistant Town Manager Victor Garofolo in which she told him, “Maybe it’s time for 0%.”
Vandal’s current salary is $185,560, so a 3% increase would mean roughly a $5,500 pay hike.
But as Selectman Tony Archinski pointed out, “It’s not just her salary that would be affected, but the buyback provisions of her contract with the town.”
Like other town employees, Vandal is entitled to buyback unused sick and vacation time when she leaves town employment. A 3% raise now would be applied to the buyback figure.
Garofolo noted that Vandal already has a buyback account from years as assistant town manager/finance director, but when she became town manager that amount was frozen. The 3% would apply to a buyback account for her years as the town’s chief executive.
Selectman Joe Dirocco made a motion to give Vandal a 3% pay raise. But the motion failed to get a second.
Selectman Tony Archinski then made a motion to give Vandal a “merit bonus.” That motion carried.