WHITMAN – Along with a review of the first public forum on Whitman’s combined Proposition 2.5 override to address town and school district deficits; the Select Board on April 22 discussed a proposal to amend a previous Town Meeting vote regarding the senior citizen tax work-off program.
The Board also, returning from four consecutive executive sessions, voted to ratify memoranda of agreement with the Whitman Public Library Employees Union, SEIU Local 888; and the Whitman DPW Union, AFSCME Council 93 Local 17.
During the tax work-off discussion, Select Board member Justin Evans repeated an earlier recommendation that, rather than adjust the Town Meeting vote, which has set the hours, they could adjust the Select Board’s vote, which set the wage.
“I think what the seniors were looking for was not necessarily more hours to hit the cap, but to be able to hit the cap,” he said. “We can adjust the wage up, from $15 an hour to $16, keep the same 125 hours and … [they’d] hit the $2,000 cap.”
The board approved the wage change, 3-0.
Council on Aging Director Mary Holland asked if the adjustment on either hours or wages might be made again, or would seniors be able to work longer hours to meet the cap if they wished.
Evans said the wage would be increased to $16 per hour next year and, if they work the 125 hours they are set to work, they would exactly meet the cap.
“That way, if the state adjusts the cap in the future, we can adjust the wage by a vote of this board, rather than a Town Meeting vote adjusting the hours,” he said. “This happens more frequently.”