By Dan Shriner
Review Editor
The Lake Orion village Council approved a recommendation on Monday night to grant 2.5 percent pay raises to village officials and non-union employees, who had not received any pay increases for the past five years.
The council had delayed action on the pay increases in June, prior to approving the annual budget in July. On Monday night, the council received a memo from village manager Darwin McClary, outlining the rationale for the raises.
Councilmember Dave Churchill sought to table the resolution in July so officials could consult with McClary before voting. McClary was not present at the Monday night meeting but a memo from McClary was provided to the council by police chief Jerry Narsh.
The raises are included in the upcoming budget and were voted on as an amendment to the budget in order to be adopted. The amendment also would set minimum and maximum pay amounts for the positions. The pay increases are retroactive to adoption of the budget in July.
The raises would be for the village manager, clerk, finance director/treasurer, deputy finance director/treasurer, police chief and lieutenant.
A report from McClary regarding the raises, stated that they are consistent with those received by village hourly employees working for AFSCME and POAM unions. The memo also stated that there were comparisons done through the Michigan Municipal League to compare the pay for Orion Village officials with similar sized municipalities in the state.
The salaries for the 2014-2015 positions are: Village manager – $70,392; clerk – $52,531, finance director/treasurer – $20.40 per hour; deputy finance director/treasurer – $19.48 per hour; public works director – $51,250; police chief – $64,194; police lieutenant – $27.32 per hour.