Rochester city manager awarded 4.5 percent pay hike by City Council

Rochester City Manager Blaine Cox at the State of the City forum at Frisbie Memorial Hospital Conference Center. (Rochester Voice photo)

ROCHESTER - Rochester's city manager, who has been roundly criticized for some of the city's recent fiscal policies, got a raise in August.
Blaine Cox, who has been Rochester's top administrator since June 2018, saw his annual salary go from $160,298.11 to $167,511.52 as of July 1.
City Council approved the 4.5 percent rate hike on Aug. 16 during a non-pubic meeting to discuss personnel.
Following the vote a motion was made by Deputy Mayor Pete Lachapelle to seal the minutes "because it is determined that divulgence of this information would likely affect adversely the reputation of any person other than a member of the board."
It should be noted that the City Manager is the only personnel the City Council has purview over, and personnel records are rarely made public.
The Rochester Voice was provided Cox's Payroll Status Form following a Right to Know request.
Cox also received retroactive pay of $1,109.76, going back to the effective date of raise on July 1.
In 2021 Cox's total compensation was $224,614 in wages and benefits.
He also received $325 in longevity and a travel stipend of $7,200.
State reps Clifford Newton, R-Strafford 9, and Tom Kaczynski, R-Strafford 23, are among a number of city residents who have ripped Cox and the city for raiding the unassigned fund balance, often referred to as the "cookie jar," to fund capital budget items.
The Rochester Voice has criticized Cox and the city for using ARPA (federal Covid-relief dollars) funds to finance seed money for non-Covid related projects like day care and a community health coordinator.
A wide array of economic experts agree that the flooding of ARPA money has fueled inflation, which is now at about 10 percent, more than twice the percentage of what Cox got for a raise.