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Wicomico Council debates 3%/2% salary plan, targeted raises to address internal pay inequities
Summary
Finance director proposed moving the pay scale 3% in July plus 2% merit in January (a 3+2 approach) to balance cost-of-living and longevity step increases; council asked staff to model alternatives and targeted multi-year plans for large outlier increases.
Wicomico County finance staff presented a two-part compensation approach at the May 2025 work session: a 3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on the pay scale in July and an additional 2% merit/step implementation in January, producing an effective 5% annual increase but spread across the fiscal year.
Finance Director Pamela Lynn said the administration chose the split to balance current revenue estimates and to allow departments to apply merit and longevity steps. "The 5% is based on 2025 salary. So they get 3 percent on 2025 salary in July. They get 2% on 2025 salary in January. So it is not additive to July's number," Lynn said.
Council members raised concerns about internal equity and morale where some recent hires and reclassifications would receive double-digit percentage increases while long-tenured department heads remain underpaid. Staff provided a dollar summary: non-sheriff positions requested roughly $1.7 million in total salary increases, of which about $518,000 represented new positions; excluding those new positions, the net increase approximates $1.2 million (about 4% of total salaries) across affected scales.
Councilors asked staff to prepare two sets of numbers: the 3% COLA and the full 5% (3+2) implementation; additional requests included modeling a multi-year phase-in (council discussed a target that would average roughly 9% for outlier positions over several years) and producing lists of specific positions that remain under 5% so council can consider targeted adjustments. Staff said those recalculations would require several days of analysis and could be provided before the next meeting.
The council did not adopt a final salary schedule at the work session; members indicated support for at least a base COLA for all employees and asked for options to address larger inequities without sudden double-digit increases for some positions.
