Mount Desert Selectboard Navigates Salary Debates Ahead of Town Vote
School presents budget, Seth Libby Appointed Deputy CEO
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Witham Family Hotels Charitable Fund.
MOUNT DESERT—It was a pretty unanimous Mount Desert Selectboard when it came to approving warrant articles at both its March 3 and February 24 meetings. However, the March 3 meeting grew a bit more tense as the board discussed its plan for salary adjustments for many of its salaried staff.
“This has not been an easy discussion for everyone involved,” Vice Chair Wendy Littlefield said. “This process has been particularly challenging.”
Those warrants, which will include the first step of proposed three-step salary adjustments, will go before the voters in May.
“The Town of Mount Desert Selectboard has thoroughly reviewed and discussed the proposed budgets presented by Town Manager Lunt,” Littlefield said during the Monday night meeting. “These budgets include salary increases for most department heads and other essential non-union employees within the Town of Mount Desert. Many discussions surrounding these salary adjustments have taken place both formally and informally, in various settings around town.”
Neighboring Bar Harbor is also potentially adjusting salaries, specifically for senior police and dispatching staff, but it has not created as much discussion during that town’s budget process.
The three-year proposed increases in Mount Desert include the town manager’s salary increasing from approximately $109,000 to $140,000; finance director, fire chief, and public works director from approximately $98,000 to $133,000; the assessor and harbor master from approximately $79,000 to $105,000.
“A lot of those top line numbers are coming directly from your neighbors from the town of Bar Harbor,” the town’s human resources consultant Zach Harris had said of the higher salaries.
Belfast, Ellsworth, Lewiston, Portland, South Portland, Waterville, Bar Harbor, Kittery, Ogunquit, Old Orchard, and York responded to Harris’ query about non-union staff salaries. Those were used to create the chart below.
“Some may not fully understand the scope of work being done or how current compensation compares to similar positions in communities across Maine. We have a mix of long-serving, highly qualified employees and newer hires who bring valuable skills to our town,” Littlefield said at the March 3 meeting. “This decision was made with careful consideration of multiple factors, including taxpayer impact, current union wages, essential department leadership, and our responsibility to maintain fiscal sustainability while ensuring the town can effectively manage its budgets in the years ahead—without placing an undue burden on taxpayers.”
She said that salary figures had already circulated among town employees, which made it harder to challenge or adjust. The approach is for 50% of the adjustment to take place in the fiscal year and then for the remainder to occur over the next two fiscal years.
According to a November 27, 2024 memo to the selectboard from Town Manager Durlin Lunt, the town’s last comprehensive salary study occurred in 2017.
“After seven and a half years, our prior scales were far below those of the communities we must compete with to attract and maintain a skilled municipal workforce,” Lunt wrote.
Salary studies should be done every three years according to best practice, Harris had said. He compared the salaries of multiple communities, including Bar Harbor and some Maine cities. The goal is to bring Mount Desert salaries to the 95th percentile compared to other communities that responded to Harris’ request.
“Speaking personally, this process has been particularly challenging. When the Board of Selectmen met in executive session early on, I initially believed the salary figures were still in the discussion phase,” Littlefield said, Mondau. “However, I later learned that these figures had already circulated among town employees, making it much harder to challenge or adjust them once they were publicly known. Additionally, the proposed salary adjustments include longevity increases for certain employees. These adjustments range from an annual increase of $35,242.90 (equivalent to approximately $16.94 per hour based on a 40-hour workweek) to $1,437.96 annually (or $0.69 per hour based on a 40-hour workweek). The Board of Selectmen is recommending a phased approach to salary adjustments, approving 50% of the proposed increases this year, with the remaining 50% distributed over the following two years. This approach aims to fairly compensate our employees while providing them with clarity on future raises. At the same time, it ensures fiscal responsibility by minimizing the immediate impact on taxpayers and maintaining equitable support for union employees.”
“I couldn’t have said it better,” selectboard member Martha Dudman said after Littlefield’s statement. “We really struggled with this and I hope that everyone concerned with these decisions understands our position.”
The selectboard’s proposal for this upcoming fiscal year is roughly $108,000 less than the original proposal. The remainder—if approved by voters each year—would be increased in the next two fiscal years.
“This is over $108,000. We got some really good people in the room,” said Phil Lichtenstein.
It was also about the union employees, Littlefield said, and they were trying to make everyone happy.
Monday’s discussion included some salaried town staff whose pay would be impacted. They advocated for the full amount.
“Not having an adjustment to your base rate for eight years and given all the changes that have occurred within the economic system, we’ve had tapped COLA increases that trailed what, Durlin? About eighteen months behind the actual cost of living and inflation over 8% and our salaries have not even come close to keeping up with those cost increases. And we’re talking about $108,000. Do you know what that would be across the board for taxpayers? We’re talking about pennies,” Town Clerk Claire Woolfolk said.
“It shows me how much you really appreciate the work that your department heads and your people do for you,” she said.
Lichtenstein, who is the chair of the town’s warrant committee, talked about the MDI AOS (regional school system administration) hiring a human resources officer to help keep track of things like salary surveys. He thought it was important that the town have a true human resources position in the future.
Excluding Lunt’s proposed increase, the average increase was about 18% for those salaried employees. The average union increase was 10% mostly across the board plus and up to 15% longevity increases, Public Works Director Brian Henkel said.
“It’s not that far out of line. . . . The salary study has made it clear that we are falling behind,” Henkel said, particularly because of cost of living increases. ”This I think should be the wake-up that says we have not kept up.”
“It was a wake up,” Selectboard Secretary Geoffrey Wood said. “We were not aware of how far behind we were. We found out and it was a shocker.”
Part of the process is to make the change palatable to the taxpayer, Wood said.
Chapin McFarland spoke on the union to non-union comparison. Unions set contracts for three years and something major could change. He said, “The non-union employees shouldn’t be punished for the contract that the union employees signed.”
The warrant committee could recommend the original budgeted amount. Littlefield reminded attendees that the voters of Mount Desert could change the budget amounts during the town meeting.
SCHOOL BUDGET
The Mount Desert Elementary School also presented its budget at the Mount Desert Selectboard meeting, March 3.
The overall proposed FY25/26 budget is $5,843,006 which is an 8.18% or $441,642 increase over the FY24/25 budget of $5,401,364. The total proposed assessment to the town of Mount Desert for FY25/26 is $5,253,399 which is a 4.27% increase over the FY24/25 budget town assessment of $5,039,078.
The Mount Desert Elementary School School Committee approved the school’s proposed budget at its meeting on Wednesday night, February 5.
That is an $8.58 increase per $100,000 of property valuation for taxpayers.
WARRANT ARTICLES RELATED TO SCHOOL BUDGET AND INCREASES, IF ANY
By warrant article number the increases are as follows.
Article 61, “regular instruction” has a proposed increase of $212,501. This brings the FY24/25 budget of $2,277,445 to a proposed $2,489,946 for FY25/26.
Article 62, “special education” has a proposed increase of $193,035. This brings the FY24/25 budget of $781,366 to a proposed $974,401 for FY25/26.
Article 64, “other instruction, co-curricular/summer school” has a proposed increase of $15,843. This brings the FY24/25 budget of $109,785 to a proposed $125,628 for FY25/26.
Article 65, “student and staff support” has a proposed increase of $35,096. This brings the FY24/25 budget of $650,906 to a proposed $686,002 for FY25/26.
Article 66, “system administration” has a proposed increase of $21,833. This brings the FY24/25 budget of $120,349 to a proposed $142,182 for FY25/26.
Article 67, “school administration” has a proposed increase of $31,778. This brings the FY 24/25 budget of $329,223 to a proposed $361,001 for FY25/26.
Article 68, “transportation and buses” has a proposed decrease of $3,022. This brings the FY 24/25 budget of $289,640 down to a proposed $286,618 for FY25/26.
Article 69, “facilities maintenance-operations and maintenance of the plant/capital outlay” has a proposed decrease of $67,422. This brings the FY 24/25 budget of $762,650 down to a proposed $695,228 for FY25/26.
Article 71, “other expenditures, food service” has a proposed increase of $2,000. This brings the FY 24/25 budget of $80,000 to a proposed $82,000 for FY25/26.
The school hopes to increase the gifted and talented position, which is vacant and a .2 position to a .5 gifted and talented interventionist.
COOPERATING AGENCIES’ REQUEST
Third party requests totaled $177,248.15. The requests last year had been $158,525.
Discussion focused on the Mount Desert Nursery School and the Island Housing Trust. It was also mentioned that the Otter Creek Aid Society hadn’t undergone any fundraising efforts in the past year.
“The nursery school. Um, $20,000 and we have eight students and not all of them are residents,” Wood said. The school is offering a pre-k as well, which the town supports. “It stood out to me.”
”Do we want to support a nursery school because that’s what we’re going to end up doing?” Chair John B. Macauley said of the $20,000 request for the Mt. Desert Nursery School.
Wood said he wasn’t sure if it was feasible to continue.
Dudman said she agreed with Wood’s comments and she had thought that the $20,000 amount from the last request was an outlier. She didn’t want it to be a regular thing.
A member of the public said that there was a fluctuating population and needs for the infrastructure of the school.
Selectboard member Rick Mooers said it was cheap if you thought of it as buying a nursery school every year for just $20,000.
“If they went away,” he asked, “what are we going to do with all those little kids?”
In the end, the board decided that nursery schools are needed for year-round families and sustaining and growing year-round families is a goal for the town.
Mooers said that he was concerned about the Island Housing Trust’s request. He doesn’t think it belongs in the third-party request, but another portion of the budget. He also wanted to increase the amount allocated to $50,000 and challenge the other three towns on Mount Desert Island to do so as well.
“This town is going to be occupied by old people and tourists,” Mooers said. “I firmly believe it’s absolutely necessary for us to go down that road sooner rather than later or we’re not going to have affordable housing on this island.”
Macauley suggested putting it out as a matched challenge in an upcoming fiscal year. “We could throw our $50 out there and the other towns could be crickets.”
Dudman agreed that it seemed a bit hasty to throw it out there and hope for the best.
Mooers said he’s been talking about it for a year and withdrew his motion. Lunt said that the League of Town will talk about regional housing needs at its April elected officials meeting. That might be a good place to throw out the challenge.
Littlefield worried about the growing number for third-party requests that grow annually. She hoped other communities were contributing to organizations as well and suggested in the future having a set amount and then working to keep the requests within that amount.
APPOINTMENTS
Bar Harbor’s Seth Libby was appointed as the town’s deputy code enforcement officer and town health officer. According to Code Enforcement Officer Kimberly Keene, she interviewed two applicants and had six candidates for the job.
“I believe that Mr. Libby will be a valuable addition to the Code Enforcement Department. He is a Bar Harbor resident. He practiced law (including municipal law), both privately and with a firm, and served on the Bar Harbor Warrant Committee and the boards of local non-profits,” Keene wrote in a February 25 letter to Durlin Lunt. “He has hands-on experience with municipal government operations and Land Use Ordinance interpretations. Mr. Libby’s references confirmed his dedication to excellence in customer service and the attention to detail and compiling complex information and presenting facts, findings or analysis in writing or verbally, including in-person and online. He has demonstrated the ability to understand the laws, regulations, and procedural guidelines in diverse fields.
Libby will start on March 10 at a starting pay of $32.45 an hour.
Jordan Lapka was appointed as a per diem firefighter/EMT to the Mount Desert Fire Department, effective March 4, 2025, at a starting pay of $25.97 an hour.
OTHER BUSINESS AT THE MARCH 3 MEETING
The board approved a late mobile vendor license application for The Nor’ Easter Pound & Market.
It authorized Mount Desert Regional High School to grant scholarships of $375 from the Reynolds Trust Fund and $100 from the Stanley Trust Fund.
The board approved the purchase of two ADA compliant, portable toilets to replace the Seal Harbor Comfort Station.
OTHER BUSINESS FROM THE FEBRUARY 25 MEETING
HARBOR AND THE PIER
Replacing the pier is going to have to happen, Mooers said, which he said, the harbor committee is working on.
He said he hoped the harbor committee would think about contingency plans for the people of the working waterfront when they can’t use the pier during its eventual reconstruction.
“All the lobstermen use that pier and the hoists that are there,” Mooers said.
A lot of the folks from Bar Harbor come to Mount Desert’s harbor for the winter time.
“They’ll need space to move their products,” he said. “I don’t know what the answer is.”
It could involve finger floats or lifts.
“It would be worthwhile for them to start thinking about that now,” Mooers said.
Harbormaster John Lemoine said the harbor committee will be diving deep into that. They are 3-4 years out on a full replacement. They’ve also discussed potentially using Seal Harbor for that winter season or rely on the contractor to help out. They’ve worked up an RFP with Greg Johnston about it as well. He said the harbor committee will be coming to the selectboard soon about that.
NOR’EASTER APPROVED
Northeast Lobster Co. LLC d/b/a The Nor’ Easter at 10 Huntington Road, Northeast Harbor request for liquor license renewal and special amusement permit renewal. There was no public comment. It was unanimously approved.
ELEVATORS IN THE TOWN OFFICE
The board unanimously approved a maintenance contract with Stanley Elevator for the service of two elevators located in the Town Office. The annual cost is $3,720.
EASEMENT AGREEMENT ON CLUBHOUSE WAY
The board approved the acceptance of an Easement Agreement with the residents of Clubhouse Way for the ongoing use and maintenance of a wastewater pump station and pressure pipe.
“This is the last step of the road acceptance,” Public Works Director Brian Henkel said.
Steven Munger thanked Henkel and former Public Works Director Tony Smith, Ed Montague, and Ben Jacobs.
“It’s great to have such committed and helpful civil servants for the town,” Munger said.
RESURFACING THE PARKING LOTS
The board approved a bid from Gardner Concrete for resurfacing the Cranberry Isles and town office parking lots in the amount of $828,880.
“I’m keeping my driveway gravel,” Macauley joked. “It’s almost a million dollars . . . . Wow.”
A NEW FLOAT BRIDGE
The board authorized the town to pay Superior Docks $7,000.00 for the construction and installation of a new float bridge from the Seal Harbor Docks CIP, which has a balance of $115,402.
VERIDIAN LAW APPROVED FOR TOWN COUNSEL
The board added Veridian Law, of Ellsworth, to the list of approved legal Counsel.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
PROPOSED WARRANT AMENDMENTS
Harbor Ordinance Amendments Sections 7.6 and 7.7 These amendments to the harbor ordinance are to update the mooring allocation priority list and to bring clarity to dinghy and public float use regulations. The sections referenced will be amended.
Repeal of Mobile Home Park Ordinance This article will repeal the Mobile Home and Trailer Park ordinance which is not fully compliant with current State laws.
LUZO - Certificates of Occupancy This article clarifies that only structures permitted after March 3, 1998 require a Certificate of Occupancy.
LUZO - Mobile Homes This article amends the Land Use Ordinance to be in compliance with updated State laws associated with Manufactured homes and mobile homes. The new law requires that manufactured homes be permitted on all lots where a single-family dwelling is allowed. The Town already allows this and these changes correct contradictions in the Performance standards and Definitions.
LUZO - Shoreland Commercial District This article is intended to clarify that the dimensional standards of the adjacent shoreland residential district are to be used when a primary residential use is proposed in the Shoreland Commercial District. This provision is found in Section 3.5.
LUZO - Solar Energy Systems This article adds standards for Solar Energy Systems to the Land Use Ordinance.
NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE EVENTS
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