New Castle County Council overturned the County Executive’s veto of an ordinance setting up pay raises for Council staff.
A supermajority of Council members voted Tuesday to override County Executive Matt Meyer’s recent veto. As a result, 14 Council staff members — from legislative aides to Clerk of Council— could see raises under new pay grades.
Meyer said he opposed the measure to reclassify and raise the pay grades of Council staff because the body did not seek the input of County human resources— which he argues is necessary to maintain pay equity across county government.
Councilman Penrose Hollins says the raises are needed because Council staff have absorbed the workloads of other staff who have retired and not been replaced.
“Now we’re asking our officers individually to do more,” he said. “We’re now asking our officers to be more in tune with the technology aspects of today’s time. So what it means is that we really want to retain good workers on County government.”
Council President Karen Hartley-Nagle was the lone “no” vote. She agrees the staff deserve raises, but says an outside expert should have evaluated the job descriptions to ensure the pay grade raises are fair.
Hartley-Nagle adds some of her constituents view the ordinance as a conflict of interest and anticipates a negative reaction from constituents if the raises require a tax increase in the future.
“We do a tax increase like we did a couple of years ago, they’re [saying] you’ve now asked for a tax increase, and you’re spending this money—but there’s nobody outside looking at this,” she said.
A fiscal note on the ordinance estimates the total cost of the raises will be around $108,000 next fiscal year, offset in part by "salary savings." The County Executive disputes that estimate.
