Concerns arise over change to contractual service for town employee payment plan

NORTH CANAAN — A major change in the way the town employee payroll is handled has turned into a procedural controversy.

Selectman Susan Clayton had strong words at a Jan. 5 board meeting for Town Treasurer Emily Minacci and those involved in a decision to change from an in-house to a contracted payroll system. 

Services contracted with Prime Pay went into effect Jan. 1, prior to Clayton being aware of them, according to her comments. The selectmen’s office confirmed they received details of the change Jan. 5, which were found slipped under the office door that morning.

Clayton also questioned the need to move so quickly on the matter; a vote made by the Board of Finance that put the change in motion; the lack of involvement of the Board of Selectmen, which employs the affected workers; and what appeared to her to be a dismissal of her concerns by finance board members. 

Procedurally, all matters involving town government go through the selectmen. If approved by a vote of that board, anything involving finances is sent to the Board of Finance for consideration. A vote by the latter would be to provide funding.

Minacci told the selectmen at their Jan. 5 meeting that she was seeking to reduce liability risk and workload for town employees, and that all the finance board did was vote to fund the $1,500 increase to her budget for the additional contract fee. 

According to minutes and a review of videos from both the Dec. 10 and Dec. 23 finance meetings, the motion was made to authorize Minacci to contract with an outside payroll service, not to authorize payment. It included recognition that the treasurer’s line item would go over budget this fiscal year.

There is also a question of whether or not the finance vote was proper.

At the Dec. 10 meeting, Chairman Nancy O’Connor mistakenly called the meeting to order with a quorum when only three — not the needed four — members were present. 

To correct the mistake, a special meeting was set for Dec. 23. Four members attended that meeting, among them finance board member William Minacci.

As Emily Minacci’s husband, Clayton asserted he should have recused himself from the vote. That would have left the board again without a quorum.

When she found she was unable to attend the Dec. 23 finance meeting, Clayton sent an email to all five seated members. (A full board is six. A vacancy was filled by a finance board vote during the Dec. 23 meeting. Brian Ohler was appointed.)

She said she found it difficult to believe not one of them saw her email in the five hours prior to the meeting, or if they had, why it was not properly submitted as a communication to the board.

Clayton’s email read in part: “Although I am not opposed to considering this change, I have yet to be fully briefed in this matter, and as a member of the Board of Selectmen, I believe it would be in the best interest of the town to move in a more efficient and thoughtful manner. This is far too important to rush, and I question the motives of such a rushed move.”

She suggested it would be more appropriate to discuss it in detail during the upcoming budget preparations and consider making the change with the new fiscal year at the end of June. 

First Selectman Douglas Humes was at the November finance meeting and both December meetings. He said at the selectmen’s meeting the town treasurer is allowed under state statute to make such changes. Minacci said she had sought the advice of the town attorney. 

Clayton said she still does not understand why all the selectmen were not given details of the change prior to its approval, even if it was just as a courtesy. In a Jan. 1, 2015, letter from Minacci to all town employees, she offered details of the change, writing that as part of her consideration, she had presented the idea to the “First Selectman and Board of Finance.”

Clayton also brought up bad feelings created by the move. She told The Lakeville Journal there were issues in December involving payment mistakes by the treasurer that were discovered by Nancy Bagnaschi, a secretary in the selectmen’s office who has handled payroll for years. Clayton said it created a lot of extra work for Bagnaschi, who was also not advised of the impending payroll change.  

Humes and Selectman Charlie Perotti did not respond to Clayton’s comments during the Jan. 5 meeting. Humes instead asked Minacci to proceed with explaining how the new payroll system works.