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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Report Finds County Pay Too Low For Leadership Positions

SALISBURY – A report prepared by the Wicomico County Compensation and Allowance Committee reflects significant disparities in a couple of the county official positions and seeks deep consideration for pay increases.

The Wicomico County Compensation and Allowance Commission met three times during the summer and fall of 2013 to prepare recommendations regarding the compensation of the County Executive, County Sheriff, Council President, Council Vice President and council members.
 

According to the report, the current annual compensation for the County Executive is $85,000. If the amount, which is originally set by the Charter Review Committee in 2003, is adjusted for inflation over the past eight years using cumulative Consumer Price Index data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2014 amount would have to be $98,724.
 

In addition, the commission reviewed the range of compensation for similar positions in Maryland. Currently, the Wicomico position has the lowest compensation level with the next lowest being higher by $17,000 and the highest having a margin of over 112 percent.
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26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Surrounding counties need to jump all over this opportunity if a pay raise results from it.

tom taylor said...

leaders lead by example. and commissioning an expensive study to prove that surrounding counties overpay their employees to justify giving themselves a raise, is not leadership.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

8:11 am To Tom Taylor, You, my sir, are way out there with your comment. There was no commission of an expensive study to prove this. Don't you watch PAC 14 and follow the meetings? And, didn't you run for County Executive some years' ago? If so, then you should know what the Charter states regarding the process of looking at the Elected Officials Salaries.

Anonymous said...

tom taylor said...
leaders lead by example. and commissioning an expensive study to prove that surrounding counties overpay their employees to justify giving themselves a raise, is not leadership.

November 22, 2013 at 8:11 AM

Tom quit saying those positions are overpaid just because you don't have one. You just aren't electable.

Anonymous said...

Is this Consumer Price Index the same one used to determine the Social Security increases?? If not, WHY NOT.???

Anonymous said...

Why does the gov run its own study to justify higher salaries that are already twice what people in the private sector make? Do they justify this from the profitability of the Gov? Do you do this because they are so much more talented? Do they do it because free healthcare, unlimited personal days, and paid holidays aren't enough? Do they do it because they can and they don't care what the public thinks. They do it because they are part of the class that rules. The person who makes $19k a year, that person I have great sympathy for, but when the raises come, that person will be the last to benefit. Until heads roll at the top, nothing will ever change.

Anonymous said...

Everyone who either gets paid by the city of Salisbury or Wicomico county is underpaid. Get your head out of your behind

Tom Taylor said...

8:35 I am electable, as you will soon see, my friend. I will be the next Mayor of Salisbury. My staff and I have closely studied the Albero campaign and we think we can adopt some of his strategies to get a win.

JoeAlbero said...

Tom, very interesting. I'd love to discuss it with you. 410-430-5349

Anonymous said...

government workers are All overpaid when you consider the perks. they certainly don't work harder than the private sector and for the most part they that lead are mediocre at best. they wouldn't be able to succeed in the private sector. they are too lose and fast with Our dollars. most have never owned a business and never had to make payroll.

stop the insanity. we can't afford more taxes. you're killing us.

Anonymous said...

who is Tom Taylor?

Anonymous said...

8:35
Bwahahahahahahahahahah!
That's a good one.
They are not overpaid because I don't have one of those jobs, they are overpaid because the typical government employee is someone who is unhirable in the private sector.

Anonymous said...

You are crazy. You can't lump local gov. In with state and federal. Just saw a job on the county website.. They are trying to hire a equipment operator for $9.00 an hour. Their benefits aren't that good...I looked into it a year ago. Explain how they are overpaid. You can't

Anonymous said...

They should not tie it to the CPI unless they plan to start giving the regular employees a raise. They haven't had a merit raise in 6 years.

Anonymous said...


Let's see how the "Executive" has personally been impacted over the years:

Cost he pays to put gas in his county owned car? - Nope

Auto insurance he pays for above? - Nope

Cost of food & lodging county pays when he travels? - Nope

Cost of food provided at meetings and conferences? - Nope

Conclusion: Still dragging 85 large ( 2x average family income for the area) for no visible work? - Yep

Case closed!

Anonymous said...

Sorry...you are wrong. Local private sector sucks. I needed quotes for work, had to beg to get 3 people out there. Hired one for the job and haven't seen them yet. That was two months ago. Called the county with a concern on my road, someone came out the same day to look at it, it was fixed the next. Seems to me like you all got it backwards around here. (Bwahhhaaaahaaa)

Anonymous said...

Since we are one of the poorest counties in MD, shouldn't their salaries reflect that. Why should they be paid as if they are from a more affluent county?
Wages have remained flat or declined for the private sector, so should theirs.

Anonymous said...

Now the backroom deal becomes apparent. Salisbury raised salaries for city employees, now the county crying for more money for themselves. Maybe Pollitt could cut his salary, in actually dip into his wallet for a change. NO MORE TAX INCREASES WE HAVE WASTED ENOUGH ON YOU AND YOURS.

Anonymous said...

Tom Tyler, first lesson in politics, do your homework before you open your mouth. The expensive commission you refer to is a volunteer committee that by charter, reviews the salaries of elected officials periodically. The new salary, if passed, won't go into effect until after those in office now are gone.

Anonymous said...

Thank you 8:55 for injecting reality.

Anonymous said...

but it's not too low for the "Peons".

Anonymous said...

We don't have any leaders! Period!

Anonymous said...

You are more than able to throw your hat in the ring and be one...or are you not leadership material? Too easy to criticize others than have the guts and ba&&s to do it yourself.

Anonymous said...

Say, 5:06, you must have some influence somewhere. Every time I call the county or state about road repairs I am told they don't have any money to fix the roads, but they will send someone to look at it. The holes on Mt Hermon Road at Crestwood will destroy a vehicle suspension.

Anonymous said...

Those underpaid employees earn much more than they would make in the private sector.