Personnel board advances SAP bylaw amendments, including cemetery stipend, to 2026 town meeting

The Town of Southborough Personnel Board voted unanimously to advance proposed amendments to the SAP (personnel) bylaw to the 2026 annual town meeting warrant.

The board’s action includes language cleanups and a new stipend entry for an administrative cemetery agent that the chair said would become effective after town meeting so the compensation could be reflected in FY26 without additional budgetary impact. “It’s not gonna cause any sort of budgetary impact, and it would compensate the employee filling that portion of the role as well for the FY26 period,” the personnel board chair said during discussion.

Board members confirmed that one change in the packet was a notation in the stipend schedule that the administrative cemetery agent stipend would be effective upon approval of the bylaw. The chair said the amendment package otherwise reflected previously agreed substance and form and that revised redline and clean versions had been circulated to SAP employees for review.

After discussion, the board moved to approve the SAP amendments "for purposes of advancing to the warrant for the 2026 annual town meeting." The measure passed on a roll-call vote the personnel board recorded as four ayes, zero nays.

The board also approved a summary handout explaining the changes for use with the select board and in the town meeting packet. Vanessa (staff) said she would provide a fuller employee transition report at the next personnel board meeting because the select board that night would consider two appointments: an executive assistant in the select board office and a program manager in the Council on Aging.

Next steps: the amendments will be placed on the personnel board’s warrant articles for presentation at the select board and then presented to voters at the 2026 annual town meeting, where final approval would be required for the stipend to take effect.