ALFRED — York County’s new treasurer Bobby Mills asked county commissioners on Wednesday to consider increasing his salary from $500 annually to the amount paid to the former treasurer. The five-member panel took no action.
Undaunted, Mills, of Biddeford, said after the meeting that he would approach the board again, at a later date.
“We will be revisiting that,” said Mills. “They should listen to the voters.”
Bobby Mills
Mills noted the voters of York County had soundly rejected a Nov. 6 referendum posed by commissioners that proposed to eliminate the county’s elected treasurer position. Voters in all 29 municipalities rejected the county-wide referendum that would have made the position appointed, rather than elected. The vote was 63,100 to 27,136 in unofficial totals.
Democrat Mills, who bested his Republican opponent in the treasurer’s race, Bradford Littlefield, by about 7,400 votes, took the oath of office as treasurer earlier in the evening, along with five other elected county officials.
The $500 annual salary comes from a January 2015 policy action taken by commissioners to establish starting pay scales for many newly elected county officials.
Frank Wood, who served as treasurer from 2008 to Dec. 31, decided last year not to seek another four-year term. By the end of his term, he earned earned slightly more than $7,000 in the part-time position.
Mills suggested a $5,000 annual salary at Wednesday’s commissioners’ meeting.
Commissioner Michael Cote asked Mills if he knew the salary was $500 when he decided to run for the elected position.
Mills replied that he had, but said he was told by Commissioner Richard Dutremble that the policy allows commissioners to adjust the starting salary of newly elected officials following a review, if they chose to do so.
Some county officials have said the part-time elected treasurer’s position is largely ceremonial, and the county does employ a full-time finance director. However, according to state law, there are certain documents that can only be signed by a county treasurer. The treasurer, who may be elected, or appointed if approved by county referendum, must be bonded, according to state statutes governing county affairs. The treasurer reviews payment of bills and payroll (called warrants) and authorizes investments, among other tasks, the statutes say. It is the treasurer’s name that appears on county paychecks.
It is unclear whether the new composition of the county commissioners board will at some point play a role in the treasurer’s salary issue. Former Chairman Sallie Chandler and Cynthia Chadwick-Granger did not win their bids for re-election. In July, Commissioners Michael Cote, Chandler and Chadwick-Granger voted in favor of putting the treasurer referendum to the voters, while Commissioner Richard Dutremble opposed it. Commissioner Richard Clark was absent that afternoon.
At the time, Dutremble said he wasn’t opposed to abolishing the elected position, but feared the timing would confuse the voters since both the referendum and a slate of candidates would be on the ballot.
Dutremble was returned to his commissioner’s seat unopposed in the November election. Joining the board Wednesday for their first meeting since their election in November were Allen Sicard of Saco and Robert Andrews of Acton.
Sicard suggested that the commissioners could allow Mills to collect mileage reimbursement for his trips from his home in Biddeford to Alfred, but other commissioners pointed out that earlier in the evening they had voted to disallow mileage reimbursements for elected officials for travel inside York County.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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