Days after dozens of citizens testified against the current pension program, a county board recommends a raise for our favorite civil servants. I remember a councilman shouting out in the midst of the testimonies that there was no raise on the table. So did this just spurt up out of no where? Are these guys trying to get fired?
From Bryan Sears at ExploreBaltimoreCounty.com
A county board has approved recommendations to give pay raises to the next county executive and members of the County Council.
The county five-member Personnel and Salary Board voted 4-0 Wednesday morning to approve an 8 percent raise for the next county executive. The salary will increase from $150,000 to $162,000. A fifth member was not present and did not vote.
Also recommended was an 8 percent raise to increase the council chairman’s salary from $60,000 to $64,800 and the base salary for a council member from $54,000 to $58,320. That proposal failed.
The recommendations were “based on salary adjustments that have been given to general county employees during the last four years,” according to Teresa Tacka, chief of classification and compensation.
Tacka said that general county employees received a total salary increase of 8 percent between 2007 and current budget years.
The salary board proposed and approved a 2 percent raise for members of the council, who will be elected in November 2010, increasing the base council salary by $1,080 to $55,080 annually. The chairman’s salary would increase by $1,200 to $61,200.
“We are recognizing the efforts of the County Council but we took into (account) all of the other perks and the other benefits that go with that salary,” said William Flattery, salary board chairman during this morning’s hearing that lasted slightly longer than 7 minutes. Flattery did not elaborate on what those benefits were.
Flattery, speaking for the board, said they approved a larger raise for the county executive because of the strong fiscal management that the county has demonstrated over the last four years, noting that Baltimore County has not laid off or furloughed employees over the last two years as other jurisdictions have.
Flattery added that the proposed raise for the county executive is less than the current executive salaries in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties — both of which pay about $175,000 annually. Both of those counties have faced budget deficits in the last year which has required employee furloughs.
Although the council’s Spending Affordability Committee sets limits on how much the budget can grow, the salary board credited the executive with leading the fiscal management of the county.
“We didn’t think about it as co-equals,” Flattery said. “In the business world, the CEO would be the county executive. When you’re at a fire the chief is the chief.”
Flattery said the council’s proposed salary increase, if approved, “will be in line” with other counties.
Salaries for council members and the executive cannot be changed in the middle of a term.
The recommendations will go to the seven-member council in the form of a bill. Five members will have to approve the proposed increases.
If approved, the increases would go into effect in December 2010 after the next council and executive are sworn in.
Two council members said they did not think the raises were appropriate given current economic conditions. Joseph Bartenfelder, a Democrat who represents the 6th District, said he would not vote for the proposed raises.
“As far as I’m concerned it can be zero and zero,” said Bartenfelder, who represents Middle River, Fullerton and Parkville and who has announced he is running for county executive in 2010.
“The salaries for both (positions) are appropriate,” Bartenfelder said.
Bryan McIntire, the council’s lone Republican, who represents the 3rd District which includes Parkton, Cockeysville and Kingsville, said tough economic times mean belt-tightening for everyone. “In this year, which I think is going to be very lean, I think we’re going to be hard-pressed for funds,” McIntire said.
“If they (the salary board) appreciate the sound fiscal management so much — then they would not be so generous with raises,” he added.
Other councilmen did not return phone calls seeking comment on the proposed raises.
All seven current members were on the council when the last pay raise was proposed in 2005. At that time, Bartenfelder and fellow Democrat John Olszewski Sr. voted against the hike.
Steve Bailey, co-chair of the Baltimore County chapter of Americans for Prosperity, said that with “the economy being what it is, raises should be off the table.”
Bailey’s group organized a rally on Monday night to urge members to reform a council pension plan some called lucrative and “gold-plated.”
Councilman Vince Gardina, a five-term councilman, is retiring after this term and will be eligible for 100 percent of his salary as a pension. Four other council members including Bartenfelder, McIntire, Kevin Kamenetz and Sam Moxley have served four terms and would be eligible for 80 percent of their salary should they not be re-elected or decide to run in 2010.
“This year, more than any other whatever raise is voted on and approved will be before the voters,” Bailey said.
