Prince William leaders might hold off on pay raises

WASHINGTON — It seems Prince William County supervisors have quietly killed a proposal to give themselves a 20 percent raise next year.

There was no action taken on the plan at this week’s Board of Supervisors meeting. It wasn’t discussed publicly despite being on the agenda, and the item isn’t listed on next week’s agenda.

Supervisor Pete Candland says the issue was discussed Tuesday in a closed session.

County staffers discovered that, in January, the county will pay its elected leaders less than the average in northern Virginia. The average is skewed by Fairfax County, where supervisors will now earn $95,000 per year.

Staff recommended that the Prince William board approve a raise to $58,032 a year for the chairman and $53,795 for the district supervisors, with additional cost of living raises over their four-year term.

Maria J.K. Everett, executive director of Virginia’s Freedom of Information Advisory Council, said it probably wasn’t appropriate to discuss the plan behind closed doors. On Thursday, Prince William Today reported that the closed meeting was likely illegal.

Representatives for board chairman Corey Stewart says he followed the advice of the acting county attorney, which Candland says was based on a statute protecting discussions of employee salaries.

Supervisor Jeanine Lawson walked out of the closed meeting after Candland, just a few minutes before the board returned to an open session.

“I believe that the board of county supervisors are different from normal employees,” Candland says. “I thought it was morally inappropriate, because I do not believe closed sessions should be used as a … tool for us to talk about potentially embarrassing topics instead of talking about them in public.”

Prince William County’s last salary adjustment for supervisors was in 2011.

Candland opposes a new pay increase. Any raises for the new Board of Supervisors that will be sworn in after November’s elections would have to be adopted before July 1.

Stewart’s office says a supervisor would have to bring it up at next week’s meeting for that to happen.

 

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