Gibsonville taxpayers will spend an additional $331,000 per year to pay 75 full-time town employees additional compensation and benefits, based on action taken by the town’s board of aldermen last week.
The aldermen heard from Matt Reece with the Piedmont Triad Regional Government which had undertaken a pay and classification study update for Gibsonville municipal employees. A previous study was done in 2022.
The $254,000 cash increase (coupled with another 30 percent, or about $76,000, in additional benefit costs) averages out to $4,146 per employee.
But some categories of employees will get about twice that level. Any town employees who are being “overpaid,” based on Reece’s study, will see no reduction or change in salary.
The net result, according to Reece, is that in order for the town to reach significant parity (between 98 to 101 percent) with other nearby municipalities that are competing for employees in similar categories, Gibsonville’s salaries need to be increased.
Three specific examples were presented to aldermen during last Monday night’s meeting.
The largest gap was in a police officer (grade 16), whose salary would be boosted by $9,100 – from $42,113 to $51,213.
Similarly, in a second illustration, a fire department employee (grade 15), whose salary is now $40,127 would see a $8,649 annual increase, to $48,776.
The third example cited by Reece, a public work employee (grade 11), would see a smaller increase, from $33,014 to $36,396 (a $3,382 increase).
Indeed, according to the tables Reece produced, some positions, such as the public works example, would end up with salaries averaging higher than other nearby jurisdictions, such as in Burlington and Mebane.
Alderman Irene Fanelli was particularly eager to get the new salary structure in place as soon as possible. She made a motion to enact the recommendations immediately, with town manager Ben Baxley to bring a budget amendment – to pay for the remainder of the current fiscal year, through June 30 – at the next board meeting. The motion for the increases passed unanimously, 5-0.
Baxley also noted that the full price tag of the salary and benefit increases, $331,000, would have to be built in to the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
Read other Gibsonville news in this week’s edition:
- Demolition contract approved to begin clearing part of old Dixie Belle textile mill now owned by the town: https://alamancenews.com/gibsonville-will-pay-77600-to-demolish-part-of-mill-building-it-now-owns/
- Christmas Parade for 2025 will start at 4:00 in the afternoon, rather than traditional 2:00 p.m. start time: https://alamancenews.com/gibsonville-will-experiment-with-saturday-400-p-m-start-time-for-2025-christmas-parade/
- Aldermen approve pay for town’s ABC board: $200 per meeting ($50 above state law’s maximum): https://alamancenews.com/gibsonville-aldermen-agree-to-start-paying-abc-board-members-200-per-meeting/
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