Board denies deputy pay-grade increase; approves $6,000 training funds for Friend of the Court

At the June 12 meeting the Mackinac County Board of Commissioners denied Clerk Hillary Vowell’s request to move the Deputy Administrative Clerk to pay grade 5, step 3 ($21.25 per hour). Vowell said the current deputy is searching for higher-paying work and that the union contract allows moving an employee up to step 3; Commissioner Kaiser said the provision did not apply because the employee was not new, and the board voted to deny the request (roll call: Kaiser, Patrick, St. Louis-Scott — yes; Clark and Litzner absent).

Separately, Friend of the Court Josh Freed asked the board to approve up to $6,000 from special fund 215 to keep Kathleen Smith on as a trainer through September at a reduced rate of $40 per hour. The board approved the $6,000 request (motion St. Louis-Scott, second Patrick; unanimous among those present).

Commissioner Kaiser also reported on a joint Friend of the Court meeting with neighboring counties and Judge Graham’s recommendation to roll mileage into wages. Kaiser said the change would raise the county’s estimated FY2025 FOC compensation by about $7,650, bringing the salary-plus-fringes estimate to roughly $131,000. The board authorized Commissioner Kaiser to negotiate FOC pay structure with the other counties (motion Patrick, second St. Louis-Scott; unanimous among those present). Kaiser summarized two cost-sharing options discussed that could reduce Mackinac County’s share by approximately $13,375 under a three-year rolling caseload method or roughly $9,746 under a 30%/30%/20%/20% split; the board did not adopt a final allocation at the meeting.

No other personnel decisions were finalized and reclassification requests for the Circuit Court Administrator and the Prosecutor’s Crime Victim Advocate were postponed until full board attendance could be achieved.