Montgomery pay increases much higher than private sector

Pay increases for most Montgomery County government employees outpaced the private sector’s by 15.5 percent during the last four fiscal years, new data shows.

The 29.7 percent total increase was fueled by yearly cost-of-living increases as high as 4.5 percent and in-grade pay increases of 3.5 percent. The consumer price index rose 12 percent, while private sector pay increased by 14 percent during the period, according to county data compiled by the Office of Human Resources. The data applies to the more than 60 percent of employees who received in-grade pay increases.