Committee approves review of road commissioner salaries, will send proposal to full board

A Kent County committee voted to advance a human resources recommendation to formalize periodic reviews and adjust annual salaries for members of the Kent County Board of Road Commissioners, the committee chair said.

The committee considered an HR comparison and recommendation and approved a motion to send the proposal to the full Board of Commissioners. Al explained that “under Michigan law, of course, the county doesn't run the road commission, but there are several duties that the Board of Commissioners has in regard to the road commission,” including setting the salary for road commissioners. HR produced a comparative analysis that led to the recommendation before the committee.

Commissioner Boujac, who moved the proposal, said the change was overdue, noting he had applied to be a road commissioner in 2008 and that “the salary was the same that it is now back in 2008.” Boujac added, “our Kent County Road Commission, by far, is the best road commission in the state of Michigan and I stand by that statement.” The motion was supported by Morris and passed by voice vote; the committee did not record a roll-call tally. The chair said the item will go to the full board on April 23.

The action does not itself change salaries; it advances the HR recommendation for full-board consideration and any final adoption would take place at a later meeting. The committee did not specify the amount of any proposed salary adjustment in the meeting record.

The committee moved on to a separate personnel matter, routing the salary-review proposal to the full board for a final decision.