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August 08. 2012 1:01AM
Manchester welfare payroll exceeds benefits
MANCHESTER — The amount of money spent by the city Welfare Department on its payroll has grown over the past decade to the point that it now comprises most of the agency’s budget.
Member of the aldermen’s Committee on Human Resources/Insurance discussed the figures at a meeting Tuesday, along with the salary of Commissioner Paul Martineau, which has also steadily risen. He is being paid $110,000 this year.
Alderman Joe Kelly Levasseur said Martineau’s salary seemed excessive, and asked why it was on par with department heads with mandated raises, since he’s an elected official.
Other elected officials, such as the mayor and aldermen, have set salaries that are considerably lower than those of department heads.
“I know a lot of people who are concerned that the welfare commissioner’s salary has gone up so much,” he said. “This is a department with only eight employees.”
According to figures provided by the Welfare Department, at Levasseur’s request, the agency spent 60 percent of its budget, or $670,000, on salaries in 2012. By comparison, it spent 29 percent of its budget in 2012 for assistance, including payments for homeless shelters, food, utilities and rent.
In 2013, the portion of the budget spent on salaries is estimated to rise to 65 percent.
Martineau, in a letter to the committee, pointed to automatic cost of living increases and raises mandated by the city’s Yarger/Decker payroll system in explaining why salaries made up a growing share of the department’s budget, which has been reduced over the past decade.
He also pointed to yearly savings since he became commissioner in 2002. Between 2003 and 2011 those savings totaled more than $1.6 million, he wrote.
“The welfare budget is fully funded by city property taxes. My fiduciary responsibility as the Commissioner is to ensure that state statutes and our guidelines are strictly abided by in dispensing aid while being ever watchful of taxpayer dollars,” Martineau wrote.
Ted Siefer may be reached at tsiefer@unionleader.com.
Member of the aldermen’s Committee on Human Resources/Insurance discussed the figures at a meeting Tuesday, along with the salary of Commissioner Paul Martineau, which has also steadily risen. He is being paid $110,000 this year.
Alderman Joe Kelly Levasseur said Martineau’s salary seemed excessive, and asked why it was on par with department heads with mandated raises, since he’s an elected official.
Other elected officials, such as the mayor and aldermen, have set salaries that are considerably lower than those of department heads.
“I know a lot of people who are concerned that the welfare commissioner’s salary has gone up so much,” he said. “This is a department with only eight employees.”
According to figures provided by the Welfare Department, at Levasseur’s request, the agency spent 60 percent of its budget, or $670,000, on salaries in 2012. By comparison, it spent 29 percent of its budget in 2012 for assistance, including payments for homeless shelters, food, utilities and rent.
In 2013, the portion of the budget spent on salaries is estimated to rise to 65 percent.
Martineau, in a letter to the committee, pointed to automatic cost of living increases and raises mandated by the city’s Yarger/Decker payroll system in explaining why salaries made up a growing share of the department’s budget, which has been reduced over the past decade.
He also pointed to yearly savings since he became commissioner in 2002. Between 2003 and 2011 those savings totaled more than $1.6 million, he wrote.
“The welfare budget is fully funded by city property taxes. My fiduciary responsibility as the Commissioner is to ensure that state statutes and our guidelines are strictly abided by in dispensing aid while being ever watchful of taxpayer dollars,” Martineau wrote.
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Ted Siefer may be reached at tsiefer@unionleader.com.