Only one of Prince George's County's Council members has taken a stand to oppose a proposed pay raise and one-time car allowance unveiled this week after embarrassing episodes involving elected officials using county cars at taxpayers’ expense.
The proposed pay raise and car allowance is recommended by the independent Prince George's Compensation Review Board. The car allowance would compensate council members for the loss of the use of a county vehicle, which all members gave up in 2017 after abuses by some were uncovered.
The Board proposes raising County Council Member compensation from $120,347 to $133,356 beginning in 2019. The raise would reflect a $10,000 allowance for the use of personal vehicles, recommended by the Compensation Review Board. County Council Members should “receive a one-time salary adjustment in the amount of $10,000 per annum that will be received in December 2018,” the board wrote in its recommendation. “This one-time adjustment is intended to offset the elimination of the automobile allowance".
The board's recommendations will be automatically adopted after the 2018 elections unless 6 of 9 council members vote to block it by April 30. So far no vote has been scheduled, and only Council Member Mel Franklin has announced opposition.
"There's no need for some special allowance," said Franklin. "We have a salary that is consistent with the region that is fine."
Franklin gave up use of his county vehicle in 2016 after being involved in a collision that injured two and totaled the county SUV. Franklin later pled guilty to driving while impaired. It was his fourth wreck in a county car.
In 2012, Council Member Karen Toles was observed by Prince George's County Police driving at least 105 mph on the Capital Beltway in her county owned SUV.
Collectively, council members were involved in 15 collisions and received 107 violations between 2011 and 2016, according to a Washington Post investigation. Vehicle use by council members was costing taxpayers in excess of $110,000 per year.
Council members duties are considered to be a full time job.
Prince George's County Council Member salaries fall behind some other jurisdictions in the region:
- Prince George's: $120,347
- District of Columbia: $137,144
- Montgomery County: $136,258
- Fairfax: $95,000
