Salary Increases

A story in yesterday's Evening Sun incorrectly reported a city solicitor's opinion on a bill to increase the salaries of City Council members. In fact, the opinion said the bill was invalid because the council "has no power or discretion to initiate salary increases for its members." Under the city charter, the power to raise salaries lies solely with the Board of Estimates, the opinion said. The Evening Sun regrets the error.City Council President Mary Pat Clarke has withdrawn legislation that would grant a 24 percent pay increase to members elected to new four-year terms in November.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will request Wednesday that the city Board of Estimates extend the contract of Fire Chief James S. Clack and provide for incremental increases to his salary each year through 2018, according to the board's agenda posted online Monday. The vote of confidence from the mayor, who is also a powerful member of the board, comes at a politically charged time for Clack, who is embroiled in controversy surrounding his implementation and support of Rawlings-Blake's decision to close three fire companies for budgetary reasons.

County principals will vote this month on a three-year contract similar to what they have but calling for a greater salary increase than other unions received.Members of the Association of Education Leaders, the union representing county principals, would get a substantial pay raise in the first year of the contract. It would be higher than any other union in the school system. The exact amount will be setduring negotiations next month.For the rest of the contract, principals would get salary increases equal to those given other county unions.

The April 20 Sun editorial regarding the maintenance of effort law ("Leopold's accounting trick") requires a response. As a member of the House of Delegates 25 years ago, I sponsored legislation, which was enacted, that strengthened the maintenance of effort law, and I have long been aware of the spirit of the law that local government should use state dollars to supplement, not supplant, county funding. The law, however, runs headlong into the harsh reality in Anne Arundel County where over the past six years the Board of Education budget has increased 17 percent while all other county agencies' budgets, in the aggregate, have decreased 7 percent.

The Carroll commissioners approved more than $300 million in spending yesterday but acknowledged that they may yet alter their budget if cuts from the governor hurt programs vital to the county. The $245 million operating budget for the fiscal year that begins in July includes money to give all county employees a 3 percent raise, but the commissioners have not committed to the salary increases because of the uncertainty surrounding the state budget. The capital budget includes $62 million for school construction, road maintenance, farmland preservation and other projects.

Baltimore's City Council yesterday allowed a series of pay raises for city officials to stay alive -- a step that likely will permit the bill to be passed without anyone having to directly vote for it. At a public hearing yesterday that drew only one member of the public -- a man named Larry Ridgely, who is opposed to the pay increases -- the City Council voted 8-3, with one abstention, to not reject the proposed increases in salary, a de facto approval....

Parents and teachers urged the Howard County school board last night to provide money for salary increases for educators and for most of the classroom initiatives in Superintendent Michael E. Hickey's proposed $251.9 million operating budget."This is the year that funding for a fair pay increase must be the No. 1 priority for the Board of Education," social studies teacher Joe Staub told the board during its annual operating budget hearing.Dozens of parents, residents and educators also presented their own budget wish lists to the board, making requests that ranged from maintaining special education funding to adding technicians to repair computers more quickly.

Maryland lawmakers appear committed to approving large salary increases for themselves and other top elected officials this year, despite facing large revenue shortfalls and painful budget cuts. The raises - some of which are set to become law as soon as tomorrow - could prove politically awkward for legislators facing re-election this fall. They're already moving to vote down raises for judges, and most state employees are likely to receive no more than 2 percent cost-of-living increases.

The General Assembly moved yesterday to kill a plan to give Maryland's judges significant salary increases next year, blaming the state's tight fiscal situation. "We're not saying that they're not deserving, because they are deserving of higher salaries," said Sen. Philip C. Jimeno, an Anne Arundel County Democrat and member of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. "It's a tough decision, but the timing with the budget just isn't right." The House Appropriations Committee and two Senate committees -- Judicial Proceedings and Budget and Taxation -- voted yesterday to eliminate the salary increases recommended by the state's Judicial Compensation Commission.

Economic strains wiped out salary increases for Howard County teachers in fiscal 1992. The $183 million fiscal 1993 budget proposed by school superintendent Michael E. Hickey doesn't even address the issue. Yet the school board, bowing to pressure from the Howard County Education Association, is negotiating salary increases.This makes little sense. This budget -- which calls for cutting 34 mostly central administration positions and minor trims in programs, services and other personnel areas -- will change dramatically in coming weeks.

Maryland faces economic uncertainty, Gov. Martin O'Malley said Wednesday, but the state's innovations in green technology, health and cybersecurity leave it well-positioned to remain ahead of its peers. "Very few other states in the country have the edges we have now in innovation," O'Malley told more than 100 students and faculty members at Towson University in his first major address since winning re-election last week. "It's the thing that will allow us to be leaders. " Earlier in the day, analysts projected a $1.6 billion hole in the state budget, up from the $1.2 billion anticipated earlier in the fall.

Constellation Energy Group reported Wednesday that Chief Executive Officer Mayo A. Shattuck III's total compensation for 2008 was $15.7 million, an increase from a year earlier attributed largely to changes in the accounting value of his pension. But company officials argued that a more precise value of last year's compensation shows Shattuck earned about $7.8 million, half of what he did in 2007. Shattuck did not receive a bonus or an increase in his base salary for the year in which Constellation flirted with bankruptcy and its stock plunged 75 percent.

Under Armour Chief Executive Officer Kevin Plank took home a base salary of just $26,000 last year after the Baltimore-based sports apparel company he founded did not meet revenue goals. Plank voluntarily cut his salary from $500,000 to $26,000 last year, saying he thought he should be paid based on the performance of the company, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. Plank was still eligible for a bonus of as much as $1.47 million, but the company had to meet revenues of at least $775 million for the year.

The Baltimore County school board was encouraged to maintain the pay raises in the proposed operating budget for the 2010 fiscal year during a public hearing last night. About 50 people attended the hearing, which took place at Ridge Ruxton School in Towson. Among the 20 or so who addressed the board, a theme emerged: Even in tough economic times, employees deserve - and need - a salary increase, which would also help keep teachers in the county instead of seeking higher pay elsewhere.

Faced with worsening economic conditions, employers are planning to dole out even smaller salary increases this year, according to a new survey. And given the climate, some workers might not see raises at all. HR consulting firm Hewitt Associates found that workers could see an average base pay raise of 3 percent, which is less than the 3.8 percent employers had projected in July. "It's not a pretty picture out there," says Ken Abosch, Hewitt's North American practice leader for compensation consulting.

Sinclair drops plan to buy Va. TV station Sinclair Broadcast Group has halted previously announced plans to buy a CBS television station in the Richmond-Petersburg, Va., market for $85 million after the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice denied approval. The Hunt Valley broadcaster, which owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 58 television stations, had agreed to buy the assets of WTVR-TV (CBS 6) from Raycom Media Inc. Sinclair would have been required by Federal Communications Commission rules to sell the license to run WRLH-TV, a Fox affiliate that Sinclair owns in the Richmond market.

Howard County schools Superintendent Michael E. Hickey and his four top administrators are receiving 4 percent salary increases for the coming school year, matching the minimum raises negotiated by teachers and other school employees.Although relatively small, the raises may further strain tensions between the County Council and school system, which have been fighting over education dollars since the beginning of the year.The raise boosted Dr. Hickey's annual salary from $115,750 to $120,380 July 1. The salaries of the four associate superintendents -- Sydney L. Cousin, Sandra J. Erickson, Maurice Kalin and James R. McGowan -- increased from $92,433 to $96,130.

City Councilman Kenneth N. Harris Sr., a candidate for City Council president, called on his opponent yesterday to reschedule a hearing over proposed salary increases for city officials so that more people can attend. The proposed increases, which would bump the mayor's salary from $125,000 to $148,000 and a City Council member's salary from $48,000 to $57,000, will be the subject of a hearing by the full City Council at 10 a.m. today at City Hall. Harris said the timing prohibits people with day jobs from attending.

Harford County Executive David R. Craig has proposed an $895.8 million budget for fiscal 2009 that addresses declining revenues with no jump in taxes and the smallest increase in spending in the past 10 years. "There is no tax increase and no increases in fees of any kind," Craig said. He detailed "the outside events" that have affected Harford's financial outlook, most notably the $11.5 million in cuts made during the General Assembly's special session in November, as well as the faltering national and state economies.

Being a worker isn't getting any easier. We're moving from traditional pensions to 401(k)s, full-scale health insurance to consumer-driven health plans and steady annual salary increases to one-time "pay for performance" bonuses and incentives. Base salaries are expected to increase about 3.9 percent on average in 2008, matching the average pay increase in 2007, according to a Towers Perrin survey of about 4,000 companies worldwide. Those results match a number of other salary-expectation surveys.