Mecklenburg Manager Dena Diorio gets 5% raise, $20k bonus. How does her salary compare?
County commissioners approved a 5% pay raise and $20,000 bonus for County Manager Dena Diorio on Wednesday, bringing her total compensation for the fiscal year close to a half a million dollars.
Diorio’s new base salary of $398,452.91, combined with an expense allowance and 401(k) match will net her $469,526.31. Commissioners also approved a one-time $20,000 bonus on top of that.
Diorio’s raise matches that of county employees, who received a a 5% across-the-board increase in the fiscal year 2023 budget. Commissioners also voted to increase the county workers’ minimum wage to $20 an hour.
Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell was the only “no” vote against Diorio’s salary increase. Rodriguez-McDowell, Laura Meier and Elaine Powell all voted “no” to the bonus.
A performance review committee of commissioners found Diorio performed on all key initiatives on an exemplary level, Commissioner Pat Cotham said during Wednesday’s meeting.
Of county managers in the five most-populous counties in North Carolina, Diorio’s base salary is the highest.
▪ Mecklenburg County: Dena Diorio, $398,452.91 base salary
▪ Wake County: David Ellis, $347,173.79 base salary, according to Wake County Human Resources.
▪ Guilford County: Michael Halford, $237,431, according to Guilford County Human Resources.
▪ Forsyth County: J. Dudley Watts, $275,017.60, the Winston-Salem Journal reported in July.
▪ Durham County: Kimberly J. Sowell, $255,000, the Raleigh News & Observer reported in March.
This story was originally published September 10, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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