A five-member Compensation Commission, appointed by thecity’s mayor and council, is now in the process of determining whether the salaries of these top officials is adequate.
According to City Clerk Claire Funkhouser, Rockville set up this type of advisory pay-scale system in 1994. Members of the Compensation Commission gather every two years to evaluate whether the mayor and council members’ paychecks are appropriate.
After they recommend salary amounts, the final say rests in the hands of the mayor and council members themselves.
“The amounts they decide on would start after the new administration comes in [after November’s election],” Funkhouser, said. “It would not affect this group. … They’re not deciding their own fate.”
But it is possible that the same people could inherit the roles they previously held, Funkhouser acknowledged. For example, Mayor Larry Giammo, who is in his third term as the Montgomery County city’s leader, was one of the officials who signed on to the Compensation Commission’s suggestions for raises last go-around, and now he is earning the recommended annual compensation.
Before the commission met in 2005, the mayor was earning $16,421, while council members were pulling in $13,200 per year. After considering cost-of-living expenses for Rockville as well as salaries for officials at similarly sized municipalities, Funkhouser said the group recommended bumping up those amounts to $25,000 and $20,000, respectively. In the end, those amounts pretty much stuck, with Giammo now making $25,750 per year for his work, and the current council members being compensated $20,600 annually.
During the spring, the Compensation Commission will follow this same process. There is no limit as to how much of a raise they can recommend for either the mayor or members of the council, Funkhouser said. But they must make a formal recommendation by March 31.
In the meantime, the public can provide input at a Feb. 7 hearingat City Hall or by e-mailing opinions to [email protected].
