Howard County commission to send updated survey, schedule Nov. 19 public hearing on council compensation

The Howard County Compensation Review Commission on a Webex meeting elected Ellen Flynn Giles as chair and Scott Houghton as vice chair, agreed to send an updated survey to county council members (and to invite the county executive as an optional respondent), and scheduled a public hearing for Nov. 19 to get community input on recommended changes to pay and benefits.

The decision followed a review of a 2021 survey the commission plans to reuse and update. "I think it's just useful for us to have up-to-date data based on where things are now," Chair Ellen Flynn Giles said as the commission opened discussion of the prior questionnaire and the proposed timeline for collecting responses.

Why it matters: commissioners said they need fresh data on how much time council members are actually spending and which benefits and reimbursements should be considered when recommending a total compensation package. Commissioners discussed a wide reported range of weekly hours—about 25 to 60 hours—depending on district size, committee roles or whether a member chairs the zoning or liquor board, and noted that compensation is often bundled with stipends and other benefits.

Members flagged several compensation components to clarify before final recommendations. The commission recorded prior stipend examples discussed during the meeting, including a communications stipend (discussion referenced monthly figures ranging from about $70 to $250 and a staff reference to a $150/month communications allowance) and an annual technology allowance of roughly $1,500 reported in earlier materials. Commissioners also asked staff to confirm whether mileage or other travel is reimbursable under Howard County rules; staff said they would consult the county code and office of law and return with clarification.

The group debated whether to send the survey to the county executive as well as council members. Some commissioners said the executive role is full time with different responsibilities and suggested phrasing the questions to reflect charter duties; others said including the executive as an optional respondent could be useful even if it was unlikely to change compensation recommendations.

The commission set a schedule to ensure the record will contain material for the public hearing: staff will finalize survey questions, send them to the council and to the executive as appropriate, and request responses by Nov. 5. The commission will convene a public hearing on Nov. 19 to receive testimony and will use any public feedback to refine its draft compensation recommendation before finalizing it in December.

Procedural actions taken: the commission approved the prior meeting minutes by roll call of confirmed members, elected Ellen Flynn Giles as chair (motion by Pravin Panouri, seconded by Scott Houghton) and elected Scott Houghton as vice chair in a separate roll-call vote. The confirmed members recorded unanimous 'yes' votes in those roll calls.

What comes next: staff will collect comparative data from surrounding counties, prepare median household income and inflation/context metrics for Howard County, confirm reimbursable expense rules, and circulate the revised survey with a requested return date of Nov. 5 so commissioners can produce preliminary recommendations for the Nov. 5 meeting and hold the Nov. 19 public hearing as planned.