Salisbury selectmen most highly paid in the region

The Northwestern Connecticut Council of Governments (COG) has just released its annual listing of salaries paid to town employees in the region. Towns in the Northwest Corner often refer to the list as they enter into the annual budget planning season. Charts showing all the information can be found at The Lakeville Journal’s website at www.tricornernews.com.The COG is an organization based in Warren, Conn., made up of the first selectmen from nine Litchfield County towns, including all six towns in the Region One school district.Salisbury pays its selectmen the most of all the COG towns, with the first selectman receiving $73,316 and the two selectmen $9,968. North Canaan pays its first selectman $25,000 and the two selectmen $5,000.Falls Village’s first selectman is paid $32,398 and the selectmen $5,335; in Cornwall, the first selectman receives $45,631 and the selectmen $3,320.In Kent the top job is worth $59,081 and the two selectmen get $4,156, and in Sharon the first selectman is paid $54,556 and the selectmen $4,160.Kent’s town clerk leads the salaries for that position at $41,636, with Salisbury right behind at $41,250.The town clerk job in Sharon pays $39,333; in Cornwall, $35,721; in Falls Village, $25,880; and in North Canaan, $6,500 plus a portion of fees collected.The survey chart also shows what the animal control officer, health officer or sanitarian, senior center director, solid waste and recycling coordinator and agent for the elderly are paid annually.In addition to salaries, the survey also shows benefits that town employees receive. Workers in North Canaan, Sharon and Falls Village do not contribute to their premium. Workers in Kent and Cornwall contribute on a sliding scale based on coverage.Workers in Roxbury pay between $500 and $1,000 and town employees in Warren contribute 15 percent while those in Washington do not have to share in their premium cost. Most but not all of the towns have switched to high-deductible and health savings account programs.The chart has information as well on what employees must pay as a co-pay per visit. Health insurance includes dental care for workers in all nine towns except Sharon.The survey also includes information on the number of sick days, personal days and vacation days that employees earn.

Latest News

Cornwall board approves purchase of two new fire trucks following CVFD recommendation
CVFD reaches fundraising goal for new fire trucks
Provided

CORNWALL — At the recommendation of the Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department, on Jan. 20 the Board of Selectmen voted to move forward with the purchase of two new trucks.

Greenwood Emergency Vehicles, located in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, was chosen as the manufacturer. Of the three bids received, Greenwood was the lowest bidder on the desired mini pumper and a rescue pumper.

Keep ReadingShow less
Robin Lee Roy

FALLS VILLAGE — Robin Lee Roy, 62, of Zephyrhills, Florida, passed away Jan. 14, 2026.

She was a longtime CNA, serving others with compassion for more than 20 years before retiring from Heartland in Florida.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie A. Vreeland

SALISBURY — Marjorie A. Vreeland, 98, passed away peacefully at Noble Horizons, on Jan. 10, 2026.She was surrounded by her two loving children, Richard and Nancy.She was born in Bronxville, New York,on Aug. 9, 1927, to Alice (Meyer) and Joseph Casey, both of whom were deceased by the time she was 14. She attended public schools in the area and graduated from Eastchester High School in Tuckahoe and, in 1946 she graduated from The Wood School of Business in New York City.

At 19 years old, she married Everett W. Vreeland of White Plains, New York and for a few years they lived in Ithaca, New York, where Everett was studying to become a veterinarian at Cornell. After a short stint in Coos Bay, Oregon (Mike couldn’t stand the cloudy, rainy weather!) they moved back east to Middletown, Connecticut for three years where Dr. Vreeland worked for Dr. Pieper’s veterinary practice.In Aug. of 1955, Dr. and Mrs. Vreeland moved to North Kent, Connecticut with their children and started Dr. Vreeland’s Veterinary practice. In Sept. of 1968 Marjorie, or “Mike” as she wished to be called, took a “part-time job” at the South Kent School.She retired from South Kent 23 years later on Sept. 1, 1991.Aside from office help and bookkeeping she was secretary to the Headmaster and also taught Public Speaking and Typing.In other times she worked as an assistant to the Town Clerk in Kent, an office worker and receptionist at Ewald Instruments Corp. and as a volunteer at the Kent Library.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rafael A. Porro

SALISBURY -— Rafael A. Porro, 88, of 4 Undermountain Road, passed away Jan. 6, 2026, at Sharon Hospital. Rafael was born on April 19, 1937 in Camaguey, Cuba the son of Jose Rafael Porro and Clemencia Molina de Porro. He graduated from the Englewood School for Boys in Englewood, New Jersey and attended Columbia University School of General Studies. Rafael retired as a law library clerk from the law firm of Curtis, Mallet Prevost in 2002 and came to live in Salisbury to be nearer to his sister, Chany Wells.

Rafael is survived by his sister, Chany Wells, his nephew Conrad Wells (Gillian), and by numerous cousins in North Carolina, Florida, Wyoming, Arizona, Cuba and Canada. He was the eldest of the cousins and acknowledged family historian. He will be greatly missed.

Keep ReadingShow less