The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners voted to increase their yearly salaries by 60% and their per diems by over 70% at their regular session on Tuesday, starting in 2025. This pay increase — their first in two-and-ahalf decades — is intended in part to attract younger people to some soon-tobe- vacant seats on the county board. The salary for county commissioners increased from $5,000 to $8,000 and the salary of the county board chairman increased from $7,700 to $10,000 starting next year. Their per diem pay — fixed payments for attending meetings and conferences — also increased from $40 to $70 for a half day of work and from $70 to $120 for a full day, also starting in 2025.
County Commissioner Jim O’Rourke introduced the agenda item at last week’s meeting. O’Rourke stressed that since he is not running for reelection as District No. 2 commissioner this year, he will not be around to benefit from the salary increases. Nonetheless, he said that “we have some outstanding people who sit on this board” who do not get paid proportionally to their efforts.
The main cause for the discrepancy between work and pay cited by O’Rourke was the fact that the commissioner salaries were last adjusted in 1999, so their pay hasn’t been raised to match the last 25 years of inflation.
To help make his case for a salary increase, O’Rourke compared the county commissioner salaries to two other governmental units. O’Rourke noted that a township trustee in Leland Township receives $7,560 annually — as of the township’s March 30 annual meeting — compared to just $5,000 annually for county commissioners without per diems.
O’Rourke also presented the board with the wages and benefi ts for county commissioners in the neighboring Grand Traverse County provided by their county clerk. According to board documents, Grand Traverse County commissioners receive $12,000 in annual wages, the vice chair receives $12,500, and the chairman receives $13,000. They are also eligible for expense reimbursement for mileage and any extra meetings they attend.
“I compared us to Grand Traverse because Grand Traverse does have a retirement program. They also have healthcare. I’ve been to Grand Traverse’s meetings, and it’s like it is here,” O’Rourke said. “You people deserve to get paid for what you do.”
Commissioner Jamie Kramer prefaced her statements by announcing that, like O’Rourke, she does not intend to run for re-election. As the youngest commissioner, a mother, and one of the only board members who isn’t retired, Kramer claimed that higher salaries are necessary to attract younger people to office, which she views as beneficial to the county.
“I think this is an excellent idea. I really, really want people from my generation and the younger generations to start stepping up into these roles and positions. We need more young people, and the fact of the matter is that our current pay will not cover daycare for us. So, to offset our costs – it’s impossible,” Kramer said Tuesday night.
On the other hand, board Chairman Ty Wessell suggested more gradual salary increases: “I think a modest increase would be fine. I think we need to be careful how we define ‘modest,’ and we don’t try to solve the problem all at one time.”
As is often the case, the main voice of dissent was Commissioner Melinda Lautner. She argued that the figures for Grand Traverse County were misleading, as the Leelanau County commissioners are entitled to an “enormous” healthcare package, and higher payments in lieu of insurance compared to Grand Traverse County. In Grand Traverse County, commissioners receive $166.67 per month if they waive medical insurance, while Leelanau County commissioners receive $209.50 per month for a single person rate, $471.37 for a two-person rate, and $565.77 for a family rate.
She also said that when given the choice between younger and old candidates, Leelanau County voters seem to prefer the older ones — a claim that could be tested if Lautner decides to run for reelection as District 7 commissioner this year, as fresh-faced Steve Yoder has already filed to run for the position as a Republican.
Lautner further suggested that increasing commissioner salaries would attract people to run for office for pay rather than service to the county, and some commissioners appeared to take offense to the implication that they were only in it for the money. O’Rourke called attention to his extensive service record — including 35 years in the police force — to say he’s “done his time.”
Commissioner Kama Ross then called attention to the fact that Lautner is paid “quite handsomely” as a member on the board of directors of the nonprofits Cherryland Electric Cooperative and Wolverine Power Cooperative. Although she did not say how much exactly, public records show that Lautner receives respectively $18,000 and $14,700 annually, for about seven hours of work per week.
Lautner called this a personal attack, insisting that her work on the cooperatives was not “apples to apples” to her work as county commissioner. When the newspaper reached out to Ross for comment after the meeting, she said that the exchange “brought out the worst in me,” and that she was not looking to bicker with her but was trying to present an example of service being rewarded with higher salaries.
“Commissioner Lautner was making her political journey seem one of financial sacrifice, but no increase in compensation for BOC members in 25 years is not right. We need to lower barriers for those who are not wealthy so they can take time off work, cover childcare expenses and balance time when they should be with their families,” Ross said.
This reason appears to have carried the day, as the board approved the salary increases by a 6-1 vote, with Lautner being the sole “no” vote.
