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Jackson County lawmakers hold ordinance on Board of Equalization pay pending amendment
Summary
Jackson County budget committee moved to hold Ordinance 6011, which would repeal and replace sections of the county code governing Board of Equalization compensation, after board members and a former chair urged pay increases and retroactive payments for prior service.
Charlie Franklin, chair of the Jackson County Budget Committee, opened discussion of Ordinance 6011, a proposal to repeal sections 9103 and 9104 of the Jackson County Code (1984) and replace them with new sections governing the Board of Equalization (BOE).
Nathaniel Petty, chair of the Board of Equalization, told the committee the board is asking for higher, retroactive compensation. "We really appreciate it," Petty said, and explained he had been told a change to compensation was expected when he joined in May 2024 and became chair in March 2025.
Jackie Summer, a BOE member appointed earlier in 2025, described the workload: hearings scheduled from about "a little over 50 appeals per day, down to about 30," dockets running four days a week as the board worked through 2023 and 2024 appeals, and hearing days that often ran past 5 p.m. She said current pay is "before taxes, $1,500 per month, except for July and August in which we're paid $3,000," and called that level "unsustainable." "We're asking that you give your support and votes for increasing our pay and to make the increase retroactive to us and to the last board," Summer said.
Tara Walls, another BOE member, reiterated the board's view that increased pay is warranted given the volume and complexity of cases. Morris Dean, speaking on behalf of the previous board, urged the committee to approve back pay for work from September through Dec. 31, 2024, and provided documentation of the prior board's work, including communications with administration and legislators.
Legislator Sean Smith told the committee he has been drafting an amendment addressing compensation and that he is committed to finding a change the legislature can approve. Smith said the code was adjusted after the heavy 2019 appeal season and that the current effort may be handled as a separate measure from the back-pay request.
Committee members acknowledged the difference between (1) the ordinance under consideration and (2) a separate amendment that would change future compensation and implementation details. After discussion, the committee voted to hold Ordinance 6011 so members could work on the amendment.
The action was recorded as a motion to hold; the motion was seconded and carried. No formal vote tally by member was read into the record.
