Huntington Town white-collar workers will get refunds

Huntington’s white-collar employees will soon see extra money in their paychecks, after the town board voted to refund them an agreed-upon lag payroll.

The town board voted last week to amend the town’s Civil Service Employees Association contract to refund the two-week lag payroll wages, which officials said was put in the contract to avoid layoffs. The refunds will go to about 200 employees, according to union president Rich Popkin.

“It is something that the town board always intended to do,” said spokesman Philip Ingerman. He said some of the town’s revenue sources have come in better than expected, including the mortgage tax.

Popkin said they have approved the amendment. He said the union approved the lag payroll “because we didn’t want people to get fired.”