A pair of Lady Lake commissioners are railing against the six-figure salary paid to the outgoing town manager.
Kris Kollgaard, who has served as Lady Lake’s town manager for more than a decade, has been earning an annual salary of $140,967.
“This is not professional sports,” said Commissioner Tony Holden.
He said government salaries are beginning to outpace salaries in the private sector. He said the top manager at Lady Lake’s Home Depot, not far from Lady Lake Town Hall, earns about $98,000 per year.
Holden said the high-dollar salaries, cushy benefits and lush retirement for government workers are an insult to those toiling in the private sector.
“The private sector has to pay those wages,” Holden said.
Kollgaard maintains that she had been fulfilling the duties of two jobs – town manager and and town clerk.
Though stepping down from the top job, Kollgaard has indicated she would like to stay on as town clerk, at a salary of $107,000 per year.
Commissioner Dan Vincent objected to the notion of giving Kollgaard a one-year “guaranteed” contract to serve as town clerk. He suggested she should serve as an “at will” employee, reporting to the new town manager.
One of Vincent’s constituents, Ed Freeman of Water Oak, said the town’s taxpayers can’t foot the bill for six-figure government salaries.
“These salaries are nuts. It’s not sustainable for a small town. Connecticut is going down the drain because of this type of spending. You have to stop it,” Freeman said.
