Commissioners could eliminate paid meetings
County commissioners may experience a significant reduction in pay if a resolution to cut extra pay for meetings is passed by the full commission. The move would limit their salaries to $260 a month.
Commissioner Carl Hulett will be presenting the resolution at the commission’s regular meeting this Monday. Commissioners currently make $15 per regular meeting and $30 for special meetings, which usually occur once or twice a year.
Commissioners recently voted to reduce the frequency of the full county commission meetings from once monthly to once every other month, leading some to comment that commissioners’ pay should be cut accordingly. Since Hulett also presented the resolution to reduce the frequency of the commission meetings, according to County Mayor Kenneth Rogers, this fact probably played a part in Hulett’s decision to present the pay cut resolution.
Though Rogers said he is not necessarily in favor of the cut, he did say it would simplify the budget process.
“If this is passed it will make it a lot easier on budgeting,” Rogers said. “Because we never know how many meetings they’re going to have a year. If they do away with paying them for the meetings, they know exactly how much to budget, and that would be $74,800 per year. The way it is now, we’re budgeting $90,000.”
Rogers said over $17,000 extra is budgeted to cover meetings since there is no way to predict how many meetings might be called during the year.
However, some commissioners feel this move will unduly affect those commissioners who are conscientious about attending committee meetings necessary to take care of county business. In addition, Commissioner Bill Zechman pointed out that some committees, such as Budget and Finance, are required to meet much more frequently than others and this would put an unfair burden on members of those committees.
“I would prefer to see us cut the base salary to some appropriate level in view of the fact some committees are much more active than others, to compensate members for their extra time by paying for the committee meetings,” said Zechman.
Other commissioners were vocally against Hulett’s proposal.
“I know a lot of people on the commission whose time is very valuable,” said Commissioner George Smartt. “And they’re donating a heck of a lot more than they’re getting paid for right now.”
Smartt also pointed out that Hulett, in presenting the resolution to cut back on the monthly meetings, said one of the main reasons he did so was that meeting so frequently was defeating the purpose of the committee system.