NFCCA

Stories from the NFCCA Newsletter, the “Northwood News”

Northwood News ♦ December 2015

Montgomery County Pays Agency Directors, Top Executives Some of the Highest Salaries in D.C. Region and Country

By Jim Zepp

Because the County government is expecting a $176 million revenue shortfall for the next fiscal year (which starts on 1 July 2016) and may be raising property taxes by 10% or more to maintain current spending levels, Council President George Leventhal requested that the Council’s Office of Legislative Oversight (OLO) conduct a comparative analysis of the salaries paid to the County agency directors and other top executives.  The OLO report was issued on 3 November 2015 and featured some startling information on how well-paid our local agency directors are compared to similar officials in other local governments as well as heads of Federal agencies.

The table below lists the salaries for top MoCo officials.

Montgomery County, Maryland
Director or Equivalent Positions and FY16 Base Salary

Chief Administrative Officer$303,097.60
Police Chief$239,574.40
Council Administrator$233,001.60
Director of Health and Human Services$228,384.00
Acting Director of Transportation$223,496.00
Director of Finance$216,340.80
Director of Management and Budget$216,340.80
Director of Technology Services$215,113.60
Director of Intergovernmental Relations$212,555.20
County Attorney$210,142.40
Director of General Services$210,142.40
Director of Permitting Services$210,142.40
Director of Public Libraries$210,142.40
Director of Environmental Protection$210,121.60
Director of Human Resources$210,121.60
Director of Correction and Rehabilitation$206,003.20
Director of Housing and Community Affairs$206,003.20
Fire Chief, Fire/Rescue Service$206,003.20
Acting Director of Economic Development$198,848.00
Director of Procurement$190,548.80
Director of Liquor Control$189,779.20
Director of Public Information$187,761.60
Director of Recreation$184,308.80
Administrative Hearing Examiner$169,915.20
Director of Office of Consumer Protection$165,297.60
Director of Office of Legislative Oversight$164,257.60
Inspector General$163,072.00
Average$206,685.75

Most U.S. Cabinet Secretaries are currently paid $199,700.

Among the OLO report findings for agency directors are:

For top execs who are not agency heads, the findings were:

The complete report is available at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OLO/Resources/ Files/2015_Reports/OLOMemorandumReport2016-1.pdf.  As the possibility of County residents and businesses having to pay hundreds more in property taxes next year looms ahead, the County’s spending practices including executive compensation will be among the topics discussed.   ■


   © 2015 NFCCA  [Source: https://nfcca.org/news/nn201512i.html]