CECIL COUNTY — With the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget introduced, Cecil County taxpayers have an idea of what capital projects, public school education and county programs their tax dollars go toward, but how about the salaries of county officials who are paid using those same tax dollars?
Before looking at salaries, it is important to understand what is valued by employers and reflected in compensation. For the Cecil County government, officials say an employee’s resume plays a large role.
“If you dive into the background of all of our directors, there is a skill set that is tremendous,” said the Cecil County Director of Administration Steve Overbay “We are stewards of taxpayer dollars so we have to be incredibly mindful to ensure that we properly invest in human capital to make sure that we are able to provide a return on investment for our taxpayers.”
Overbay also noted that Cecil County needs to provide competitive salaries with surrounding counties to ensure Cecil County is able to attract highly qualified workers.
“When setting salaries, you have to look at the competition,” said Overbay. “Using Maryland Association of Counties, we are able to identify like sized jurisdictions with similar taxable bases to identify the market rate for a quality individual to run a department because each department is equivalent to running a business.”
Each county official is appointed by the county executive and approved by the Cecil County Council.
The highest paid Cecil County government official is the Director of Administration Overbay, who is paid an annual salary of $166,885.42.
The second highest paid official in the Cecil County government is County Attorney Lawrence Scott who is paid an annual salary of $157,642.86. County officials said that having an in-house attorney saves the county money.
“Legal services used to be on a contract basis across the county, but are now in-house,” said Overbay. “We now have someone solely dedicated to taking care of the government’s legal needs and the savings of bringing legal services in house did two things- allowed us to focus on Cecil County business and saved us money.”
Overbay noted that, prior to moving to in-house legal services, each department of the Cecil County government would receive funding for legal services as part of their annual budget.
Some outside legal services are used by the Cecil County government which officials say only occur when a niche area of legal expertise is needed by the county. Expenses for these outside legal services can be viewed on the county’s monthly finance reports online.
The third highest paid Cecil County government official is the Director of Finance Shon McCollum who is paid an annual salary of $150,136.99.
Moving to the remaining annual salaries of county leadership which are under $150,000 is:
Director of Public Works William Flanigan — $145,781.23
Director of the Department of Emergency Services Wayne Tome- $142,366.19
Director of Community Services David Trolio- $139,832.35
Director of Law Enforcement George Stanko- $134,762.31
Director of Information Technology David Warnick- $132,228.46
Cecil County Sheriff Scott Adams- $127,884
Director of Economic Development William Sorenson- $124,624.55
Director of Parks and Recreation Clyde Van Dyke- $117,020.65
Director of Human Services Angelia Lawson- $114,485.64
Director of Land Use & Development Stephen O’Connor- $114,485.64
Director of Facility Management Stephen Reisler- $111,951.77
The lowest paid county officials are County Executive Danielle Hornberger who, mandated by charter, is given an annual salary of $98,000 and the members of the Cecil County Council – who’s compensation is also mandated by charter – are given an annual salary of $25,000.
“I am very confident that when you look at the folks who work for this administration and the work they do, the investment we make in talent here brings huge returns back to the county and having the right people is critical to keeping the county on track with the executive’s vision,” said Overbay.
The second group of county officials who are paid using tax dollars are Cecil County Public School (CCPS) officials. The values that CCPS officials say are reflected in compensation are fairly similar to those of the county government, but officials say there is an added structure and high education requirements that influence pay.
“Education jobs require high education for qualifications along with an established path through the ranks in education,” said the CCPS PIO Kelly Keeton. “Education leadership positions require people to work up to them.”
The highest paid CCPS official is Superintendent Jeffrey Lawson. The superintendent’s current annual salary of $238,589 – which is over $48,000 more than his first term contract of $190,000 – is set by the Cecil County Board of Education.
“He has 40 years of experience, a doctorate, and has to be approved by the state superintendent ,” said the CCPS Board of Education President Diana Hawley “He has over 2,000 staff, over 15,000 students, 30 plus buildings and vehicles and all of that is on him so you have to have a competitive salary in order to keep good leadership because without good leadership the whole system will fall.”
CCPS officials said that although Blueprint for Maryland’s Future- a funding plan that will increase statewide funding for education- mandates that teaching salaries are increased, the superintendent’s pay will not be affected.
The annual salaries for the remaining six top ranking CCPS officials as are follows:
Associate Superintendent for Education Services Dr. Jennifer Hammer- $207,426
Associate Superintendent for Administrative Services Dr. Robert Buckley- $207,426
Executive Director for Elementary Education Dr. Shawn Johnson- $178,884
Executive Director for Secondary Education Dr. David Foye- $178,884
Executive Director for Administrative Services Dr. Theodore Boyer- $178,884
Chief Financial Officer Denise Sopa- $178,884
The Cecil County Board of Education is paid an annual stipend of $5,000.
“This job is hard and it has only gotten harder so you have to be competitive,” said Hawley. “It is very important to keep good leaders who know the schools and who know the county.”
Cecil Whig Clip
https://www.cecildaily.com/news/local-officials-salaries-set-in-fy24-budget/article_209178fd-e050-59f1-bec5-7af8ef366d8a.html
