Wicomico commission seeks more data before proposing county executive pay changes

The Wicomico County Compensation Commission on Sept. 10 debated how to set a fair salary for the county executive and agreed to gather additional data from peer counties, department head counts, and benefit/perk details before voting on any recommendation to the County Council.

Commission members said the decision matters because pay recommendations affect county budgets and could trigger a charter change if structured as multi‑year step increases rather than a single dollar amount. Chair Chelsea Phillips Hutton opened the meeting and asked members to approve minutes from the Aug. 20 meeting; the commission later approved those minutes by voice vote.

Members spent most of the session comparing Wicomico with other Maryland charter counties, including Cecil, Anne Arundel and Frederick, and debating which measures should guide compensation: the scope of the executive’s job, county fiscal capacity, or household and per‑capita income measures. “I think, what, in my view is probably the most significant thing we need to consider for these salary,…