The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners narrowly voted to give themselves pay raises.
The commissioners voted 5-4 toincrease their part-time salaries by a little more than $9,000. This was the result of a salary study that showed that pay for county employees, including elected officials, lagged behind similar-sized counties.
Justin Hodge is a commissioner who represents the Fifth District and also works full-time as a professor of social work at the University of Michigan. He supported the pay raise because he says it’s a pay equity issue.
“Most elected officials that are not a state representative or state senator or higher, we all have another job. Basically, unless you’re retired or independently wealthy, it’s very challenging to hold a local elected office.”
Hodge says he hopes raising the pay to just under $33,000 per year will remove some financial barriers to some people running for office. Opposition to the resolution centered around salary increases for other county employees not reaching market rate.
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