Administrative and Road Crew Salaries

Vermont’s towns determine compensation for municipal administration individually, and as such compensation for town offices is highly variable. This report compares administrative compensation and across Vermont to the Town of Strafford, with a particular focus on towns of a similar size. Road crew compensation is also analyzed across Vermont and compared with the Town of Strafford through metrics such as miles of road by road class. In all, 49 towns and two cities in Vermont were analyzed, with the 24 towns immediately smaller and larger than Strafford a special focus. In many cases, Strafford’s administrative and road crew salaries were higher than what would be predicted, though its salary for the Town Clerk and Treasurer position is in line with what would be predicted for a town of its size, hours open, and property tax revenue.

Through our data analysis, we determined that Strafford’s administrative and road crew salaries appear slightly higher than expected for a town with its weekly town office hours and property tax revenue. In some cases, such as population, it is not clear that Strafford’s compensation is unusual. In particular, we note that the salaries for the office of Assistant Town Clerk/Treasurer are significantly above what might be predicted for a town of Strafford’s weekly town office hours and property tax revenue. However, we note that the salaries for the primary office of Town Clerk and Treasurer are line with the predicted trends for similarly sized towns. Salaries for road crew with respect to road classification are also largely inline with what would be predicted for a town with these specific miles of Class 2, 3, and 4 Road. On average, the 49 surveyed towns spent $50,133 on administrative salaries, while Strafford spent $72,958. The towns spent $114,810 on road crew salaries, with a median of $110,444, while Strafford spent $142,065 on road crew salaries.