OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — The Ottawa County Officers' Compensation Commission in April voted 3-1 for a resolution for pay increases for a range of county employees. Among those increases was a 60% boost in pay for the county commissioners.
The salary increases in the resolution for the board of commissioners include:
- Raising the chairperson's salary from $27,127 to $43,403.
- Raising the vice chair's salary from $21,523 to $34,436.
- Raising commissioners salaries from $20,844 to $33,350.
The new salaries also called for a $1,000 monthly stipend.
The proposed increases would've taken effect in 2025 if they were not rejected by the Board of Commissioners.
According to Michigan law, if a county has a compensation committee, that committee sets the compensation for nonjudicial elected officers. Once a change in compensation is approved, the board of commissioners can reject it. If there is no vote to reject the resolution put before the board of commissioners, the updated compensation rates could automatically take effect at the beginning of the next odd numbered year.
However, per another excerpt from state law cited by Board of Commissioners Chair Joe Moss during the board's May 14 meeting, the resolution was invalid, he said, due to the number of compensation commissioners that had voted in favor of the resolution.
The Ottawa County Officers' Compensation Commission is comprised of seven people, but when the vote to approve the proposed pay increases took place, three members were absent.
Because state law requires the majority of those appointed and serving on the compensation commission to support a resolution in order for it to take effect, Moss said, that made the 60% increase resolution invalid.
In addition to the proposed pay increases for commission members, the county prosecutor, sheriff, treasurer, clerk, register of deeds and water resources commissioner.
The positions whose salary adjustments were voted on in the Compensation Commission's April 11 meeting and had received a unanimous vote from the four present compensation commissioners, Moss clarified on May 14, would still receive their adjusted compensation for next year, as the majority of the entire seven-member board had approved of them.
Larry Jackson was the only member of the compensation commission to vote against the proposed pay raises. Jackson is also the chair of the Ottawa County Democratic Party.
Jacob Bonnema, the commissioner representing District 4 in Ottawa County, pushed back against the approval on his Facebook page.
"One of the easiest 'NO' votes of the year. District 4 will be voting against this abuse of our tax dollars," Bonnema wrote.
Ottawa County Board of Commissioners Chairperson Joe Moss shared an article on May 3, claiming that he had to hear about the proposed pay increase from the news and not from the Compensation Committee.
Moss posed many questions about the proposed pay raise in his article, including asking if the pay decision was leaked to the media.
Bonnema claimed that the decisions were made at meetings that were open to the public.
Ottawa County Commissioner Allison Miedema didn't directly share whether or not she was in support of the proposal, but did share some thoughts about it in a Facebook post.
"Personally speaking, I am not serving in the role of county commissioner for the money. With that said, currently, the amount of money offered to county commissioners is a bit above the poverty rate. I have wondered at times if the rate offered to commissioners prevents individuals with a lower or single household income from being able to consider running for local office. I wonder what the thoughts are from the community on that," Miedema wrote in part.
But, as it the Compensation Commission's vote was later found to be invalid, some commissioners raised concerns over the item having been on the May 14 agenda prior for several day before being removed that morning.
"Because something was put on the agenda that was out of legal compliance, certain commissioners commented in support or against of something that, in the end, wasn't even compliant to vote on, from what I'm hearing today," Commissioner Jacob Bonnema said. "That's concerning, that's counterproductive, creates an atmosphere of distrust and chaos. I don't like those things. I'd like to know that, when something ends up on my agenda for me to consider, it's factual and it's legal."
You can read the entire resolution approved by the Ottawa County Officers' Compensation Commission below.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been updated to reflect the existence and ramifications of MCL 45.474, and Board Chair Joe Moss's later reference to such, which he said renders the Ottawa County Officers' Compensation Commission's approval of the 60% pay increase in 2025 to county commissioners invalid.
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