Supervisor John Roark says he believes Board members should not receive pay “until the County gets back under control.”
His suggestion didn’t get very far at a Board work session last Thursday night.
Supervisors currently are paid $5,000 a year (about $384 per month), with the Chair receiving $6,000.
“I would hate to vote to tell somebody who’s going to get elected that you’re not going to get paid,” said Supervisor Dicky Ingram. “I think that if a Supervisor gets elected and decides, ‘Well, I don’t want to get paid,’ that’s up to that Supervisor.”
Roark’s proposal would not take effect until after the Nov. 2027 elections because pay is established by an ordinance that would have to be repealed or amended.
Supervisor Daphne Norton said Nottoway’s Board member pay is among the lowest in the region. “Prince Edward gets $10,000,” she noted. “We rank #8 or #9.” She did not elaborate.
County Administrator Steve Bowen said one member of the Planning Commission “feels very, very strongly about not getting paid. And when he gets his money, he comes up here and gives it back to the County.” (Planning Commissioners receive $250 per meeting.)
Roark says his rationale is for each County department — including Administration — to cut its spending by 10%, and that Board salaries would be one step. “I mean, anybody who’s doing this for money anyway is shameful.” Roark said he didn’t realize Supervisors received pay until he was elected (2019). He said it’s his understanding that members of Crewe and Burkeville Town Councils aren’t paid.
Supervisor Ingram said, “When people ask me what I get paid, they start laughing at me. I don’t feel comfortable telling somebody else that if you get elected, you don’t get any money.”
Supervisor Norton agreed, saying, “People don’t do it for the money” and that she spends “ten times” what she receives for reimbursements on gas. “It’s already hard enough to get people to run for office. If they get zero, it’s going to be even harder.”
Supervisor Norton added that if any Board member believes in not receiving pay, they can simply donate their salary back to the County. “If you don’t want it, give it back.”
Supervisor Bo Toth inquired about various committee pay, including Social Services. Roark recalled, “When I first got on the Board, I tried to get rid of that. So I’m very consistent, regardless of who else is pissy about it.”
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