Wicomico County council approves public works director pay increase after debate over pay scale and PE requirement

Wicomico County Council voted 4–2 on March 18 to approve Resolution 39-2025, which amends the county’s fiscal year 2025 position-control document to increase the salary range for the public works director position and confirm the hire of a new director.

The vote followed an extended discussion among council members that centered on moving the new appointee to the top of the pay range immediately, whether the council should temporarily reduce the starting salary for a probationary period, and whether the job’s Professional Engineer (PE) requirement should be dropped to broaden the candidate pool.

The council’s action matters because it sets the starting pay for a long-vacant senior county role and establishes how the incoming director will be treated when the next budget and any across-the-board raises are implemented.

County administration had recommended placing the incoming director at the top of the pay range. Bunkie Luffman, director of administration, told the council that he could not guarantee the candidate would accept a lower offer and emphasized the cost of prolonged vacancy in the public works director role, including impacts on landfill operations and departmental coordination. "I can't guarantee he'll accept it," Luffman said when council members proposed a lower starting salary.

Pamela Olin, the county's director of finance, explained the council's authority over raises once a budget is presented and said the council could exclude a newly hired employee from any pay increase included in the next budget. "If we presented a budget with a pay raise for this position ... you would have the ability to make the reduction at that point in time," Olin said, describing the budget and position-control process and historical practice for hires close to July 1.

Several council members voiced concern about appointing and immediately placing an untested candidate at the top of the pay scale. Council members noted the county had not received references and questioned the candidate's direct experience running a landfill or county roads. One member proposed an amendment to reduce the starting salary by roughly 5 percent for a probationary period; that amendment failed 4–2. The main resolution then passed 4–2.

The appointment confirmed Mustafa Kilcarson, PE as the new director of public works; the council also approved a separate resolution confirming his appointment earlier in the meeting. Luffman indicated the director could begin in the second week of April.

Council discussion also touched on the long vacancy in the post (several speakers said the role has been open for about five to six years), concerns about setting a pay precedent for new hires, and the mechanics of how the annual pay scale (COLA/"4 plus 1" approach) affects top-of-range salaries. Olin and administration staff described how the pay scale moves under the county’s annual compensation adjustments and said the council retains authority to alter proposed salary increases during budget adoption.

No amendments to the PE requirement or job description were adopted during the meeting. Several council members expressed that removing the PE requirement could create liability risks and would substantially change the job description.

The council recorded the final tally on the amendment and on Resolution 39-2025 as 4–2 in favor of the main motion; names of individual yes/no votes were not recorded in the meeting transcript provided to the public.

The council discussed related budget issues and signaled further oversight of the FY26 budget process; a number of council members said they were concerned about the possibility of exceeding the county’s revenue cap in the coming budget.

Resolution 39-2025 will be reflected in the county’s position-control document and the FY25 fiscal records; implementation details such as the candidate’s actual start date and whether the hire will be excluded from any future budgeted pay increase were discussed but will depend on subsequent budget actions and personnel onboarding steps.

Ending: The council concluded the item after voting and moved on to other business. No legal challenge or amendment to the appointment was made on the floor during this session.