The annual compensation to be allowed each member of the board of supervisors of a county shall be determined by the board of supervisors of such county but such compensation shall not be more than a maximum determined in the following manner. Prior to July 1 of the year in which members of the board of supervisors are to be elected or, if the board is elected for staggered terms, of any year in which at least forty percent of the members of the board are to be elected, the current board, by a recorded vote of a majority present, shall set a maximum annual compensation which will become effective as of January 1 of the next year.
Until the board is able to set a maximum compensation as provided above, the maximum compensations for the several counties shall be as authorized on July 1, 1981.
Any board of supervisors may fix a higher salary for the chairman, or the vice-chairman, or both, than for the other members of the board without respect to the limits herein set forth.
A member of the board of supervisors of any county may accept in lieu of salary, reimbursement for actual expenses incurred in maintaining an office and secretarial assistance necessary for the proper performance of his duties. Such reimbursement shall be subtracted from the amount of the salary due such official and the remaining sum shall be paid to him at his option; however, such expense shall not exceed the salary. In addition to the salary, members of each governing body may receive the same fringe benefits which are given to county employees generally, and all prior grants of such benefits are validated.
A county may provide a member of its board of supervisors in addition to salary, reimbursement for actual expenses incurred in purchasing, operating, maintaining and using a telephone, including a car telephone or other portable telephone, provided the expenses are attributable directly to the proper performance of the member's official duties.
No increase in the salary of a member of the board of supervisors shall take effect during the incumbent supervisor's term in office; however, this restriction shall not apply to boards of supervisors when the supervisors are elected for staggered terms nor to corrections to the above listed compensation.
1976, c. 590, § 14.1-46.01; 1977, cc. 391, 416; 1978, cc. 319, 435, 572; 1979, c. 256; 1980, cc. 3, 450; 1981, cc. 13, 623; 1982, c. 376; 1990, c. 518; 1996, c. 371; 1998, c. 872; 2000, c. 299.