HANOVER — A new wage study recommends Hanover overhaul how it pays its 166 town employees, at an estimated cost of up to $515,000 in raises.
The study recommends the town first bring every employee up to at least the minimum of a new pay scale, at a cost of about $135,000. It then recommends a fuller adjustment, estimated at $515,000, or about 4% of payroll, that would raise pay by an average of about $3,100 per employee. With benefits included, those estimates rise to about $170,000 and $635,000.
And now, Hanover officials must decide how to act on it.
Starting in October 2025, consulting firm Evergreen Solutions began composing a classification, compensation and benefits report that includes comparisons to similar municipalities, input from various staff and formal recommendations.
Town Manager Rob Houseman told the Valley News that the information provided will serve as a foundation for pay considerations.
“This analysis was intended to identify where we stood. It was also timed so that we could use it as the framework for our union negotiations,” he said, specifying that there are three union contracts up for consideration in the next fiscal year.
Based on information from the study, skilled trades and utility roles, along with public works supervisory and superintendent roles, are among those least competitive with the market.
And for Director of Public Works Peter Kulbacki, that finding has held true when it comes to hiring, as the department struggles to match competitors’ pay for experienced hires, he said.
The recommendations include steps to more clearly define levels of roles across departments and ensure wages rise incrementally.
The town employs 166 people, with the police department, public works, Howe Library and fire department accounting for about 79% of the workforce.
To help determine a median wage for roles, the company turned to comparable towns based on geographic proximity, comparability as a municipal employer, organizational size and relevance as competitors for talent.
Upper Valley municipalities the town and Evergreen chose as peers included Lebanon, Newport, and Hartford, and Hanover has a higher cost-of-living index than all three.
Other municipalities from outside the region included Brattleboro, Middlebury, Montpelier and Rutland in Vermont; Bedford, Manchester, Concord, Derry, Dover, Nashua, Durham, Portsmouth, Keene, Laconia, Londonderry and Exeter in New Hampshire; and Williamstown in Massachusetts. Of the 20 communities, 17 provided data. Newport, Rutland and Williamstown did not.
In terms of pay range, 108 employees earn below the midpoint for their roles, and 58 earn at or above it. About 17% of employees are paid below what would be expected given how long they’ve held their position.
“Employees paid below expected placement, particularly those with longer time in their classification, are the group most likely to reflect compression and may warrant closer review,” the study stated.
The town’s workforce has an overall average tenure of approximately 8.9 years, with a mix of long-serving employees and more recent hires.
To gather feedback, Evergreen Solutions facilitated focus groups and meetings with department directors, senior leadership, supervisors and non-supervisory staff.
Based on the feedback, the company identified the valued aspects of being a town employee as stability and security in public service; annual cost-of-living adjustments; meaningful work close to home; a positive work environment and people; and flexibility in roles.
Areas of concern included the cost of living and housing affordability, difficulty recruiting and retaining staff, hard-to-fill roles and positions funded by federal grants that risk expiring.
Some participants said certain titles do not match the work being performed, including deputy fire chief, an assistant position in the assessing area and a senior mechanic role.
According to public works employees, equipment operator positions are currently distinguished only by the commercial driver’s license endorsement an employee holds, and better-defined levels would help “recognize increasing skill.”
Water and wastewater staff also asked that licenses employees earn help increase pay levels.
Police department employees explained that officers have limited opportunity for increases when they’re not in supervisor roles. Public safety roles, including police officers, police sergeants, fire captains and fire lieutenants, are below market, the study found.
Evergreen Solutions’ first recommendation is to adopt a job classification structure with standardized titles across departments and define career levels. These levels would be based on scope of responsibility, complexity, independence and supervisory role.
Another is to create a consolidated set of step pay plans with a consistent structure that aligns with the market, and assign each position to a pay grade within those plans.
It also calls for a comprehensive study every three to five years, and clear pay administration policies.
The study cost $33,000, which came from the general fund, Houseman said.
Kulbacki described the study as detailed and said that while it may take several years, he’s hopeful that the recommendations can be implemented.
“We’ll get there, and in the end, we’ll be competitive,” said Kulbacki.
