Here is an explanation of the history of Clerks Salary:

On June 21, 2004, a public hearing revealed that the statutory duties of the office were leaving the Township without proper oversight, and the Board was often unaware of day-to-day problems / concerns.  At that time, all elected officials, including the Clerk, Supervisor, and Treasurer, were considered part-time, even though the Township maintained full-time administrative offices, DPW, and 24-hour Police and Fire services. The community expressed the need for these elected positions to become full-time.

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Initially, a proposal was made to implement a split-pay salary for elected officials, but it was not approved. Instead, the full salary was allocated to the “office” budget.

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In 2014-2015, the Township faced challenges when a full-time official was frequently absent but still had to be paid the full salary, as required by law. A similar situation occurred in 2016-2017, leading to additional taxpayer money being used to hire outsourced services. Implementing a split salary would have allowed the Board to allocate these funds more efficiently and reduce unnecessary expenditures.

2001 – Clerk Annual Salary $42,000.00 – Part Time
2002 – Clerk Annual Salary $45,000.00 – Part Time
2003 – Clerk Annual Salary $51,000.00 – Part Time
2004 - Clerks Annual Salary $63,500.00 – Begin Officials Full Time
2005 - Housing Market Crash, Clerk Annual Salary $53,040.00

2016-2017 $61,999.00
BiWeekly: (Split in accordance with State Law as the salary of the office could not be lowered until after 2012-2016 term completed.)

July 2016 to Nov 2016 $2,087.58 (salary) $297.04 (Additional Duties) ($2384 Bi Weekly)

Dec 2016 to June 2017 $1,538.46 (salary) $846.15 (Additional Duties) ($2,384 Bi Weekly)

Board Assigned + Salary of Elected Official
2017-2018 $23,099.90 + $40,000    $63,099      1.75% increase
2018-2019 $24,254.90 + $42,000    $66,254      5.00% increase
2019-2020 $26,500.00 + $42,000    $68,500      3.00% increase
2020-2021 $28,555.00 + $42,000    $70,555      3.00% increase
2021-2022 $30,671.65 + $42,000    $72,671      3.00% increase
2022-2023 $32,851.80 + $42,000    $74,851      3.00% increase
2023-2024 $36,594.39 + $42,000    $78,594      5.00% increase

Increase percentage based on Collective Bargaining Agreements and are applied Townshipwide. Increases were generally applied to Board Assigned Duties for accountability to the Board for work being done as assigned by the Board.

 

Question

Can a township board member be hired to work as a township employee?

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 A: Yes, Michigan law allows township boards to assign additional, non-statutory duties to township board members and to authorize payment for those services, as the township board deems reasonable. (MCL 41.96)

 

A township board member is not prohibited from voting to assign him- or herself additional duties or to establish the compensation for the additional duties (Burton Township v Speck, 1 Mich. App. 339, 1965).

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Arguments

Some argue that the additional pay for “extra duties” functions as a bonus and is hidden because it’s not listed as salary for the Supervisor, Clerk, or Treasurer. Instead, it appears separately under the office salary in the budget. This separation exists because it’s illegal to reduce an elected official’s salary once their term begins. If an official chooses not to perform the extra board-assigned duties tied to that pay, the Board has no recourse—the salary cannot be lowered, and the official continues to receive the same pay, regardless of whether the additional duties are completed. The Board would then need to hire additional personnel to fulfill those responsibilities.

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Some also argue that even though the pay is the same for all officials, the workload may not be equal. However, this administration operates as a team, where each member's strengths and weaknesses balance out. We all work together to accomplish the Township’s goals. It's hard to say that one position is more valuable than another—we could all debate that point. Ultimately, we all share a common goal: the success of the Township, and we work together to make that happen.

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While some may claim this isn’t a full-time job, you must consider the following: We don’t just work 40 hours a week—we often work weekends and evenings when necessary. The Township provides 24/7 services, and the issues don’t stop just because the administrative offices are closed.

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THIS administration took action to protect our taxpayer money.

Should there be a change in administration, they can certainly raise the salary of the “Office” and additionally outsource all of the duties we have been performing. This will certainly lead to excess and unnecessary spending.

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Click the button below to view an example from February 2017.

To no fault of his own, the previous treasurer was unable to come into office.

This is the Board discussion regarding the concerns.

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