Members of the Arlington Planning Commission, who currently work without financial compensation, could eventually start getting paid.
Although posts on the commission are unpaid by longstanding tradition, given the time and effort the job requires, that might change someday.
“We ask a lot from members of the Planning Commission,” County Board Chair Takis Karantonis told ARLnow. “Whether it’s time commitment, preparing for meetings or their overall workload, it is worth evaluating other practical and helpful ways to support their service.”
Karantonis responded to the ARLnow inquiry on his own behalf, not for the Board as a whole. He acknowledged that while compensating Planning Commission members may come some day, it won’t be for the fiscal year that began July 1.
“Arlington’s current financial situation for this fiscal year doesn’t allow for compensation,” he said.
Across Northern Virginia, members of planning commissions are paid, or not, based on individual custom.
None is getting rich, although some are receiving more than others.
In Fairfax County, members of the Planning Commission receive $25,000 per year. In Falls Church, meanwhile, Planning Commission members receive $100 per month, with the chair earning $250.
City Council members are expected to increase those stipends in August.
Members of planning bodies in the cities of Alexandria and Manassas, like Arlington, do not receive compensation.
Tenley Peterson, who chairs Arlington’s Planning Commission, can see the merits to compensating commission members, but does not consider it a pressing item for consideration.
“Personally, it’s an honor to serve on the Planning Commission, and when I was appointed I did not have any expectation of receiving compensation,” she said.
Like Karantonis, Peterson spoke to ARLnow in her own capacity, not representing the full body she chairs.
“I do think there is wisdom in offering commissioners a stipend in order to expand the pool of experts willing to serve on the Planning Commission,” Peterson said. “However, this is a difficult fiscal environment to pursue commission stipends, when we have recently had to make difficult budget decisions and may need to make more in the foreseeable future.”
Created in 1956, Arlington’s Planning Commission not only meets as a whole, typically at one or two sessions per month, but its members also have responsibilities with a number of related planning bodies.
They include the county’s Long Range Planning Committee, Zoning Committee (ZOCO), Public Facilities Review Committee and individual site-plan review committees for specific development projects.
Commission members also rotate duties representing the body at County Board meetings.
Currently, 10 members serve on the commission. The body’s bylaws allow for a membership of up to 15, to serve up to four-year terms with reappointments allowed.
Peterson described, as a “reasonable first step,” the possibility of offering reimbursement to commission members who need caregiver support at home in order to attend the sometimes lengthy meetings.
“Babysitters are expensive, and that cost could prevent a lot of prospective commissioners from serving,” she said.
Whatever the timing of any future action, the matter is on elected officials’ radar, Karantonis said.
“This topic is [the] subject of internal discussion and thinking,” he said. “I will revisit this at a later time with my colleagues, and not only or exclusively for planning commissioners.”
