Howard County compensation review commission outlines mandate, schedules meetings and hears open‑meetings guidance

The Howard County Compensation Review Commission met in a hybrid virtual session to review its statutory duties, hear legal guidance on open‑meetings and public‑records requirements, and set a meeting schedule and work plan to produce recommendations on next county leaders’ pay.

The commission’s charge is to recommend compensation and allowances for the county council and the county executive for the term beginning in December 2026, and its report is due to the County Council by Dec. 21, county staff said. ‘‘You can choose to increase their salaries. You can choose to decrease their salaries,’’ Owen Khan, council staff, told commissioners, adding that staff will assist their research and logistics.

The discussion laid out why the commission’s work matters: its recommendations will be translated into legislation by the County Council; the council may decrease council salaries but may not increase them, while the council may either increase or decrease the executive’s salary. The commission must also hold at least one public hearing as part of its deliberations.

Amanda Myhill of the Office of Law briefed commissioners on the Maryland Open Meetings Act (OMA) and the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA). Myhill told the commission that ‘‘a quorum of Board members should never gather together to discuss Board business except at a scheduled Board meeting that has been properly noticed under the Open Meetings Act,’’ and warned members against discussing board business in emails, texts, private messages or chat features. She said boards must make meeting notices and agendas available in advance, keep minutes that record items considered and how members voted, and follow special procedures if a closed session is used for a permitted purpose, such as personnel or legal advice.

Myhill also summarized the MPIA: public records are presumptively open and include communications such as email and text messages when they relate to public business. She advised commissioners and staff to notify the Office of Law promptly if a records request is received and to assume that written communications may be subject to disclosure unless an exception applies.

Commission members spent the bulk of the meeting discussing how to approach the compensation review. Staff provided a short summary of the current compensation schedule stated in the county code: council members receive $83,000 per year, the council chair receives an additional $3,500, council members receive $200 per month for communication costs and an additional $1,500 per four‑year term for communications/technology, and the county executive’s base salary is $238,000 with a $150 communication stipend; both positions are eligible for employee benefits. Commissioners discussed whether the council role is effectively full time, how to measure actual workload, and the tradeoff between setting a salary that enables candidates to serve without discouraging civic participation.

For research and fact gathering, staff said they would provide: results of past surveys of council and executive time commitments (a 2021 survey was cited), the percentage of the county budget that current salaries represent, and other background materials. Commissioners agreed to consider interviews or a standardized survey of current council members and executive staff; staff will coordinate those contacts if the commission requests them.

The commission set a recurring meeting cadence to meet the Dec. 21 deadline. Commissioners agreed to meet at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays through December, with the initial schedule published as hybrid sessions in the CVG Room: Oct. 15, Oct. 22, Nov. 5, Nov. 19, Dec. 3 and Dec. 17 at 6:30 p.m. Staff said they will circulate calendar invitations, post agendas and videos on the County Council website, and create a single commission email address for public input.

No formal motions or votes on compensation amounts were taken at this meeting; commissioners discussed approaches, research methods and stakeholder outreach that will inform later recommendations. The commission also agreed that it will elect a chair and vice chair at a subsequent meeting after remaining appointments are finalized.

The commission’s next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m.; staff will circulate the past survey, budget percentage for salaries, a proposed standard set of interview or survey questions for council members, and the commission email address ahead of that session.