Macomb County Commissioners Approve Pay Raises Up To 35 Percent

MACOMB COUNTY (WWJ) - Hearing about pay raises for government workers and officials, especially during an election year, is the stuff that can generate outrage.

Macomb County Commissioners approved a series of pay increases -- one as high as 35-percent for the commission chair -- effective in 2019. Other increases were approved for elected positions ahead of a Tuesday deadline before this Fall's election.

County Commissioner Andrey Duzyj made the proposal, based on a study by an out-of-state firm recommending the increases to keep pace with the market.

"Well, I figured it was very, very important that we contacted somebody that was not local, it took the politics out of it, and it gave us a different view-point and an ability to be objective about all of this".

Duzyj says the lack of a pay increase also hurt their ability to attract applicants to open positions in the county government.

"We've had a lot of problems with getting people to apply for some of the open positions, the equalization director, the finance director and to get them in and to have them stay with the county and the pay scale just wasn't there," he said.

"The county has grown tremendously the last 10 years and there have been no raises for 10-12 years ... I think it was due."

The raises won't take effect until 2019 but had to be in place ahead of the next election.