The Volusia County Council voted Dec. 2 to give County Manager George Recktenwald and County Attorney Michael Dyer 4% salary increases following public, itemized performance evaluations.

Councilmembers individually reviewed written evaluation criteria and publicly scored each official. Multiple councilmembers praised the two executives’ responses to natural disasters, organizational leadership and legal stewardship. George Recktenwald told the council he and his leadership team preferred parity with the general employee increase and said he would be uncomfortable taking substantially more than staff‑wide adjustments. “I would be uncomfortable taking anything more than what the general raise was for everybody else,” Recktenwald said during the discussion.

Michael Dyer, the county attorney, said he appreciated the council’s comments and noted he works with a legal team he described as “top notch” and said the office is proud to support county operations. “I have a great team that I would not want to do the job without,” Dyer said.

Outcome: Council member Troy Kent moved and council approved separate motions to grant a 4% salary increase to the county attorney and separately to the county manager; both measures passed. Council also asked staff to schedule a workshop to examine comparative compensation across nearby jurisdictions and to consider whether a future one‑time adjustment is warranted.

Why this matters: The raises match a 4% increase the county awarded broadly to general employees earlier this year. Council said the modest equal adjustment helps avoid compression within the county payroll and sends a consistent message during upcoming labor negotiations.

Next steps: The council directed staff to prepare comparative compensation data and to schedule a workshop before any one‑time salary adjustments are considered.