Police, fire chiefs among highest paid by county

Chief administrative officer is No. 3 on list

The Anne Arundel County police chief, fire chief and chief administrative officer were the three highest-paid county employees this fiscal year, according to data from the county Office of Personnel.

Police Chief Amal Awad and Fire Chief Trisha Wolford are tied for the top salary at $244,306. Christine Anderson, the county’s chief administrative officer, is next at $236,848.

Awad has headed the 1,200person department since December 2020. She oversees all department functions across its four districts and office headquarters, training academy, crime prevention unit, K-9 facility, Animal Care and Control and Criminal Investigation Division.

Wolford manages the county’s 31 fire stations and more than 900 career and 400 volunteer firefighters and emergency medical service personnel. She was appointed chief in December 2018.

Awad and Wolford are the first women to lead their respective departments.

Anderson is responsible for overseeing the county executive’s branch offices and departments including the budget, personnel, emergency management, central services, law, and planning and zoning offices. Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman announced her promotion to the position in November 2022 from her previous role as central services director.

Wages for top earners have risen notably with the 24 highest-paid on the payroll collecting over $200,000 annually. That’s up from last fiscal year, when only nine employees made that much. Similarly, 1,124 employees made over $100,000 this fiscal year compared to 826 last year.

Of the top 25 earners, 13 are women and 12 are men. Eight of them work for the police department.

Pittman earns the 107th highest employee salary at $142,000; County Council member Pete Smith, a Severn Democrat, earned $47,154 as council chair; Allison Pickard, a Glen Burnie Democrat, earned $43,270 as vice chair. The other five council members earn $42,162.

In December, Pickard became chair and Laurel Democrat Julie Hummer became vice chair.

In 2022, the council approved

six-year, $3.3 billion transportation funding shortfall would raise or create a variety of vehicle fees. The Senate has agreed to some but not all of the ideas, aiming to raise about half of the more than $500 million that the House proposals look to raise. If a plan is not passed before 12:01 a.m. April 9, up to an additional 10 days will be added to the session to finish the budget. for development. It passed the House with amendments that would, compared with the first version of the bill, require a smaller number of affordable units in new development. Ferguson has said the Senate will also pass the bill, but the details are still being debated in a committee and it’s unclear what differences both the House and Senate would need to sort out before Monday. their insurance policies. The House version of the bill has received preliminary approval in the Senate chamber. Its Senate counterpart passed out of the House last week, and is awaiting approval from the governor.