Southampton Town trustees threaten to sue town over raise disagreement

Southampton Town trustees have threatened to sue the town after the town board passed a budget that reduced a $25,000 raise for one of the trustees' senior employees.

The trustees, a five-member elected board that oversees the town’s wetlands and waterways, said the salaries in its $3.4 million adopted budget were changed by the town board in violation of state law. The trustees authorized litigation against the town on Nov. 2.

Trustee President Jimmy Mack told Newsday the disagreement primarily concerned a raise for the trustees’ longtime employee, Jessica Feldman. Mack said Feldman has key institutional knowledge and he considers her the trustees' department head.

Town Attorney James M. Burke, in a statement to Newsday, said the town "feels strongly" that the town board has the power to set salaries for town employees. Under an agreement between the town and trustees, a copy of which Burke shared with Newsday, the town is the sole provider of waged labor for the trustees.

According to budget documents, Feldman was slated to make a $92,692 salary in 2026 as a legislative secretary. She was promoted by the town board to chief legislative aide in August and given a raise to $99,619. The trustees' adopted budget proposed a raise to $125,000 in 2027, but the town budget lists the salary at $110,000.

Both budgets also list a longevity payment for Feldman's more than 12 years of service. The trustees' budget includes a $4,100 payment, while town budget lists $3,300.

Mack said Feldman had been promised a raise by various trustees over the last decade but never received it.

Feldman declined to comment.

State legislation enacted in 2022 gave the trustees the authority to craft their own budget, as long as it does not include a yearly increase of more than 2%.

At Tuesday's town board meeting, Mack and two other trustees threatened to sue the town if the board didn't change the town budget to include the trustees' adopted plan. The town board did not make those changes before adopting its $155.1 million spending plan.

“The trustees are responsible for adopting their budget and the town is required to incorporate that budget without alteration, consistent with the applicable statutory requirements,” Mack told the board. “This is not a matter of negotiation or disagreement over individual budget lines, it is a matter of compliance with state law.”

Burke told Newsday the town is "hopeful that we can work with the trustees to avoid any litigation."