At last week’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Chair Joe Moss removed a proposed salary increase resolution from the agenda at the last minute, explaining that resolutions sent to the committee by the Officer’s Compensation Board were invalid.
Monday, a legal opinion memo from Kallman Legal Group representing Ottawa County, stated that the Officer’s Compensation Commission, which determines the salary for the nonjudicial, elected officials of the county, did not meet within the specified time frame to vote on salary increases for board members.
According to state law, the Officer’s Compensation Commission, which is currently made up of six members, has 45 days from their first meeting to vote on board member salaries.
According to the legal memo, the first meeting was held on March 11th of this year, giving the Commission until April 25th to determine any changes made to salaries.
During an April 11th meeting in which members voted to increase Board of Commissioner salaries, only 4 members attended the meeting and voted 3 to 1 in favor of the increase. State law requires a minimum vote of 4 in favor, making the proposal sent to the Board of Commissioners invalid.
A final meeting was held on May 2nd to determine a salary increase for the treasurer and water resources commissioner and, although the Compensation Commission voted 6 to 0 in favor of the increases, the date of the meeting was outside the 45-day limit, thus rendering those resolutions invalid as well.
The legal memo recommended that a corrected resolution, which would not increase the salary for any board member through 2025, be issued and sent to the Board of Commissioners for a vote.
