The town of Haw River was one of the first local municipalities to respond to the newspaper’s request for public record information on the town’s employees.
The town provided information on the salaries, as well as specifying the additional benefits – such as medical, dental, vision, and short term disability payments – made on their behalf and the taxpayers’ expense; the state pension retirement that the town pays; as well as 401-K contributions paid by the town.
The town also provided, as requested, the total compensation for its employees during 2024.
The newspaper asked for the names of all municipal employees, their current salary (as of February 1, 2025), their position, original hire date, and total compensation for calendar year 2024.
The newspaper specified that the total salary compensation should include (but not be limited to) base annual or hourly wages, plus any amounts paid for additional duties, bonuses, overtime, longevity pay, any health care and/or dental premiums paid on behalf of the employee or his/her family, as well as employer contributions into any retirement program (including any 401k programs) on behalf of the employee. Longevity pay, if and where applicable, should be that most recently paid to each employee.
The town has about two dozen full-time employees and a similar amount of part-time or seasonal employees and volunteer firefighters.
Not surprisingly, the highest paid employee is the town manager, Sean Tencer, whose salary is $101,084.44, and whose total benefits package, including a $5,054.22 longevity payment, is $133,868.37. Tencer has been town manager for about 7½ years.
Toby Harrison, the town’s police chief and a long-term member of the town’s police force, was second highest with $89,542.44 salary and $120,945.59 in total compensation including benefits. Harrison has been employed with the town since 1998; he received a longevity payment of $4,477.12 in addition to his regular salary.
For the most part, annual salaries are listed; however, in some cases, part-time employees (especially in the recreation and fire departments) are paid on an hourly basis, and those hourly rates are specified. Some firefighters were paid by the hour, while some others were paid $150 for each fire call.
The town’s medical coverage expenses for each employee are $8,928 annually, with the exception of two part-time employees – Jody Jarrett in the water department and Scotty Thomas in the police department – whose medical coverage is $13,872 annually, according to the information provided by the town.
The complete list of the town’s employees and their salaries is printed HERE.
