BY KIRK ROSS
Staff Writer
CARRBORO — On the heels of an appeal from a coalition pushing for an increase in the town’s living-wage policy, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen heard an extensive report on proposed changes to its pay and promotions policies at a meeting Tuesday night at Town Hall.
John Anzivino, senior vice president of the public-sector consulting firm Springsted, presented a series of options for the town to consider in restructuring how it assigns pay rates for different types of jobs.
About 18 percent of the town’s workforce – 28 positions – was below the minimum wage set for their pay classification, according to Anzivino.
Anzivino said the estimated annual cost of raising the 28 salaries would be $26,191.
The study, the first comprehensive review of Carrboro’s pay structure in seven years, focused in part on how to structure the fire department, which has grown over the past few years in preparation for the opening of the town’s second fire station.
The Springsted proposal reduces the number of supervisory positions and reduces the overall positions proposed for the department from 42.5 full-time positions to 39.5 positions.
Springsted also was asked to study a proposal for a “housing wage,†which is akin to a living wage and takes into account Orange County’s relatively high housing costs.
To help close the gap, Springsted proposes raising the town’s minimum wage to $11.78.
Prior to the wage presentation Tuesday, Justice United, a coalition of local congregations and faith and social-justice organizations, appealed to the town to raise its living wage to $13 an hour, with an eye toward eventually reaching $15.31 an hour — a figure proposed for Orange County by the National Low Income Housing Organization.
Board member Jacquie Gist said she agreed with the organization’s approach, saying that businesses and public bodies that keep wages low are being subsidized by the rest of the community through social services and other public support. Carrboro, she said, shouldn’t be among that group.
The board sent the report on to Town Manager Steve Stewart, who is crafting this year’s budget based in part on the report’s recommendations. Stewart was asked to consider the impact of the $11.78 wage as well as Justice United’s $13 per hour request.
In other action, the board delayed signing off on part of a proposed change to an inter-local agreement on water and sewer boundaries. The proposal affects plans for water and sewer service areas around Hillsborough, Efland and Mebane, including an economic-development region near U.S. 70 and I-40.
The board approved the proposed Hillsborough changes, but board members asked for more information on the Efland and Mebane changes.
Board member Dan Coleman said he could not support the plan, saying he was concerned that the county was ignoring economic development in Chapel Hill and Carrboro and placing too much emphasis on economic-development areas elsewhere.
Board member Joal Hall Broun said the board should approve the change as requested since it had been under study for a year and was part of a small-area plan developed by county and Efland officials.
Board member Randee Haven-O’Donnell, who is Carrboro’s representative on the county’s economic-development commission, said the addition of water and sewer service around Efland and Mebane are an important part of a strategy to attract green industries to the county.
Several companies have expressed an interest in locating to Orange County, she said, and the improvements would help lay the groundwork for recruiting them.
Also on Tuesday night the board: approved an agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation on the design and construction of a section of the Bolin Creek Greenway that runs from Wilson Park to Estes Drive Extension.