Baltimore County Council members are scheduled to vote Oct. 19 on salary increases for the county executive and council, proposals that have drawn criticism from residents and candidates ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The measures would raise the county executive’s annual pay from $192,000 to $240,000. Council members’ salaries would increase from $69,000 to $119,750, while the council chair’s pay would rise from $77,000 to $129,750. If approved, the new rates would take effect when the next executive and expanded nine-member council take office in December. The increases come as council membership is being treated as a full-time position for compensation purposes for the first time. Voters approved that change, along with expanding the council from seven to nine seats, in a 2024 charter amendment. “It’s compensation commensurate with responsibility,” Councilman Izzy Patoka, a Pikesville Democrat, said Tuesday. A separate resolution would increase the county administrative officer’s annual salary from $263,000 to $310,721, effective in June 2027. The officer’s salary is set for a four-year term and does not receive cost-of-living or merit increases. Linda Dorsey-Walker, who ran in the Democratic primary for the new District 3 seat, said pay should help attract people to public service but objected to the timing of the council’s proposal. Candidates in the recent election, she said, understood the council salary to be $140,000. The county’s Personnel and Salary Advisory Board recommended salaries of $140,000 for council members and $150,000 for the chair last December. Those recommendations faced backlash earlier this year after concerns that raises could increase pension payments for some retiring council members under a law that has since been repealed. At a September work session, Council Chair Mike Ertel, a Towson Democrat, said the council sought to be “temperate” in setting the increases. Three sitting council members are running for reelection: Ertel and Republicans David Marks and Nino Mangione. Marks and Mangione have said they oppose the proposed council raises. Candidates Cari Santiago, a Democrat seeking the new District 7 seat, and Linda Dorsey-Walker, as well as county public works technician Lassell “Tony” Burger, questioned how the full-time classification applies. Santiago also challenged the council’s decision to vote on its own salaries. County law assigns the advisory board the task of recommending council compensation. State law requires the board to submit its recommendation to the council, which may reduce or reject it. Any salary changes must be enacted before the Nov. 3 election. Burger also questioned the proposed pay for the county administrative officer, saying the position should not pay more than the county executive, police chief or fire chief. County records show administrative officer D’Andrea Walker earned $263,000 in 2025; Police Chief Robert McCullough earned $300,587, and Fire Chief Joseph Dixon earned $262,650. Burger said he found raises difficult to justify while residents and employees were concerned about conditions including violence, development, infrastructure and the county’s credit standing. The county’s fiscal 2027 budget provides employees with a 3% midyear cost-of-living adjustment or its equivalent.