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Windsor Town Manager Turns Down Pay Increase
HARTFORD COURANT

With significant cuts in state aid to municipalities expected and property revaluation on the horizon, Town Manager Peter Souza took an unusual step and declined the town council's plans to give him a pay raise.

"We never got to it," said Mayor Donald Trinks Friday, recalling the meeting Monday in which the town council gave Souza his performance evaluation and was about to begin discussing the percentage of his increase, which he rebuffed. "Peter trumped us."

Souza, who is paid $117,000 a year, would have been looking at a salary increase of about 3 percent, Trinks said, adding that the council was very happy with Souza's job performance in the past year.

"The council was extremely impressed with his leadership initiative," Trinks said. "It was not a token gesture. It was a classy move by a professional manager."

Souza, who has been town manager since 2004, said he decided to set the tone for a difficult budget season.

"We will be making significant reductions in our budget," he said. "It's only appropriate that I, as chief executive, not accept a merit increase at this time."

Souza said he was not calling on other town employees or department heads to follow his lead and decline pay raises, but added that there will be some tough decisions made as services are reduced or cut out completely.

"As we go forward we're going to have to look at ways to minimize costs," Souza said, mentioning the possibility of furloughs and reduced raise pools in the future.

"All things are on the table. It didn't feel right to take a raise," he said.