Menominee County Board OKs pay raises for elected officials

MENOMINEE, MICH – Recent high inflation is spurring higher pay for elected officials in Menominee County, Michigan. 

The Menominee County Board of Commissioners has approved 60% increases in commissioners’ 2025 pay and annual salary increases of 2% to 2.75% for nonunion workers for the next three years.

Commissioners’ pay will increase to $10,500 a year from $6,500, and the County Board Chair’s pay will increase 71% to $12,000 from $7,000 annually for the next three fiscal years, starting Jan. 1, 2025, County Administrator Jason Carviou said at the Aug. 27 county board meeting.

The increases will affect the commissioners and the board chair elected in November, not necessarily the current commissioners, said Commissioner Larry Johnson, chair of the Finance Committee, who wasn’t present at the board meeting but spoke with a reporter by phone Thursday. His absence was excused. “The board can raise the rate for the next board,” but not for the current board, Johnson said. 

The salaries for elected officials, including the Menominee County prosecuting attorney, treasurer, sheriff and the combined county clerk/register of deeds position are slated to increase as well, effective Jan. 1. 

The salary for the county clerk/register of deeds’ position Marc Kleiman currently holds is set to rise 7% to $75,000 in 2025 from $69,998 in 2024. The salary for the prosecuting attorney role Jeffrey Rogg currently holds will increase 2.5% to $114,300 in 2025 from $111,531 this year.

The sheriff’s salary will climb 22% to $100,000 in 2025 from $81,939 in 2024. Current Menominee County Sheriff Mike Holmes faces competition on the November ballot. The salary for the treasurer’s position, currently held by Barbara Parrett, is scheduled to increase 13.6% to $73,700 from $64,894 this year, the county said.

Nonunion county workers will receive a 2% to 2.5% increase in fiscal 2025 and 2.75% increases in fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027, Carviou said.

Finance Committee members approved the new salary schedule based on market research conducted by Carlson Dettman Consulting, Carviou said.

A public hearing on the proposed budget the Finance Committee approved will be held at the beginning of the Monday, Sept. 23, board meeting. The board agreed to change the date of this meeting to Sept. 23 from Sept. 24. 

Carviou said the commissioners’ salaries are in the upper 50th percentile for Michigan, but he noted Menominee County doesn’t offer health care insurance as an option for commissioners and some other counties do. “The fringe benefits they’re offering would be quite expensive by themselves. A single health insurance plan, that’s $7,000 to us,” he said.

Some larger counties are offering higher salaries, he said. 

In the past, Menominee County has offered benefits to commissioners, Commissioner Steve Gromala said. “We eliminated a lot of the perks, the pension plan, health insurance and they could also get family plans,” he said. 

County Board Chairman Larry Phelps said, “Maybe health insurance wasn’t needed” for some.

For business people, the benefits provided a savings to them personally, Gromala said. “We tried to eliminate that to make (the role) more of service-oriented rather than a service provider,” he said. 

“We had some commissioners back then that didn’t attend their committee assignments. Heck, they didn’t even attend county board meetings because they were in Florida,” Gromala said.

Road funds

The county board approved a $49,673 payment from federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Menominee County Road Commission for a road improvement project on Central and Grove streets in Stephenson Township.

Stephenson Township has provided $18,760 toward this road project. The township was expected to provide 20% of the cost, or $9,935, but ended up writing a check for about double this amount, or $18,760.

County hiring

Menominee County is hiring for the following roles: HR manager, legal assistant in the prosecuting attorney’s office, Friend of the Court case worker, hourly correctional officers, road patrol deputy and emergency response dispatcher.

The county also plans to hire an assistant prosecuting attorney, Carviou said, but this position hadn’t been posted to the county website as of Wednesday.

No one spoke during the public comment periods. After a short closed session to discuss collective bargaining and to consider the lease of real property, commissioners returned for commissioner comments.

Upcoming events

A Night at the Museum is scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Sept. 7, at the Menominee County Heritage Museum, 904 11th Ave. in Menominee. It’s an interactive event with historical figures from Menominee’s history reliving the town’s history. Attendees are encouraged to dress in historical garb, Aubert said.

Commissioner Jeff Carlson said a walk-through tour of the shuttered Stephenson Elementary School, 535 River Rd., which the American Legion purchased for $43, will be held at 5 p.m. Sept. 9. The Legion has formed a committee to decide the building’s future. “The bones are good, the building itself,” Carlson said, but it needs repair.

The Menominee County Local Emergency Planning Committee is recruiting new members, Phelps said. Those interested should contact Tom Philipps, emergency management coordinator at the county offices.