KENT, Conn.—The Parks and Recreation Commission hammered out a budget of $231,310 on Tuesday, Jan. 13, which will be forwarded to the Board of Selectmen for consideration and possible inclusion in the 2026-2027 budget.
The proposal is $12,597, or 5.76 percent, more than current spending.
Significant in the commission’s discussion were wages for the recreation director and a newly created part-time assistant director’s position. The latter position is an expansion of the after-school program (ASP) and the Camp Kent director’s job. The new assistant director would help with a shift in the kind, breadth and oversight of programming.
Parks and Rec Director Matt Frasher said he wants to end ASP, which is used by only five or six families, and move toward planning more events, which attract larger numbers of participants.
“The paradigm has shifted and drop-in programs seem to work better,” said Frasher. “It’s unusual for parks and recreation commissions to provide after-school programs in this area.”
Over Christmas, for instance, the department held a Holly Jolly Pajama Party at the elementary school that attracted 55 children and gave parents a four-hour window to do what they wanted (or needed) to do in the busy days before Christmas.
He said that because of the low attendance rate for ASP and the expenses of staffing it and providing nutritious snacks for the children, the town loses about $20,000 a year on it. “The revenue is not there,” said Rufus P. deRahm, chairman of the commission.
Because he wants to change the kind of programming offered, he wants to change his ASP and Camp Kent director’s function to a more all -inclusive role, including program oversight, creating promotional materials, staff supervision and the like. This would leave him more time to develop and implement programs. He noted that his job description was changed and expanded dramatically in 2025.
Thus, he proposed a 2.88 percent COLA wage increase for four Camp Kent hourly employees for a total cost of $17,284; a 6.05 percent increase for the assistant director at an annual cost of $19,500 for 780 hours of work, and $4,560 for counselors-in-training. Offsetting some of these increases would be the removal of the ASP expenses.
“I think it’s brilliant because you have teenagers and other community members involved,” said commission member Heidi Wilson.
The commission looked at four other options Frasher presented but like the first one best.
It turned its attention to Frasher’s own compensation, currently $65,390. All on the commission believed this to be too low for the amount of work entailed in the department’s operation and the rapid growth of its programs. When salary scales were checked for similar positions in small towns they ranged between $78,000 and $90,000 annually.
“I think Matt is underpaid,” said deRham. “He also went from non-exempt [from overtime wages] to exempt. I would like to come up with a way to increase his base salary to reflect his job performance and the increased responsibility.”
Wilson reported that she had looked at salaries in 35 towns and found Kent’s director was number 30 on the list for salaries.
Frasher said that his job used to be “programmatic and less administrative.”
“The job changed significantly,” he revealed, saying that he used to have to juggle hours to avoid overtime charges, but once he was exempted he often had to oversee nighttime programs as well as be present during the workday. He reported he works between 44 and 50 hours a week and up to 60 hours in summer.
With the new assistant director already receiving a 6.05 percent increase, Wilson suggested that a 10 percent increase be allocated for Frasher, inclusive of the 2.88 percent COLA. That would boost his salary next year to $71,929. “With taking out the ASP, we would have a little wiggle room,” she observed.
The commission members looked at other numbers in the proposed budget and made some modest adjustments, particularly to the supplies line item. The $750 budgeted has been consistently overspent and Frasher noted that costs are going up still more this year. In the fiscal year 2025 budget the actual cost was $3,995 and this year spending has been $1,001 to date.
Frasher explained that the cost of online credit card registrations for fee programs comes out of this line item, even though the fees are fed back into the general fund and not to the recreation department.
The commission raised the line item to $4,300.
Attention turned to maintenance of the town’s ballfields at Kent Center School. Frasher said that a conversation is needed about the responsibilities for maintenance of the fields. The town handles fertilization and grub control on the fields and because of its proximity to the Housatonic River and the school, more expensive natural chemicals must be applied.
He said the town’s two-year contract for purchase of the substances is up this year and that he will be negotiating for a new contract.
Wilson said she would “err toward increasing the line item a bit because we don’t know what prices will be in the tariff era,” but upon discussion, the commission left maintenance at $30,000.
It was also anticipated that the electricity line item should be increased because of the return of the swimming pond at Emery Park this summer and the addition of a pavilion. Upon discussion the commission raised the line item from $600 to the $1,080 budgeted before the pool was closed.
The line item for fee programs remains at $37,150 while the line item for training was increased from $250 to $1,000. Other line items remained flat.
Is there a new P&R Director? Thrasher? I thought his last name was Busse?
He got married earlier this month and changed his last name.