KALKASKA -- A heated county commission meeting was held Monday afternoon after a local sheriff and prosecutor found out they'll be taking a pay cut, while every other department head in the county is gettting a raise.
Kalkaska County Commissioners voted last week on the salary changes, but the topic was brought back up this afternoon after word spread.
The news came as quite a shock for Sheriff David Israel who's worked for the county for more than 20 years. He was never notified by commissioners that he would be getting paid thousands of dollars less if re-elected Tuesday.
The sheriff's salary will be cut by 12% next year and the prosecutor will see 9% cut.
Sheriff David Israel says, "It tells me that they don't care about law enforcement. We are there to protect and serve and the message they're sending is that it doesn't matter."
The sheriff oversees the jail, animal control, road patrol, dispatch. He also serves as the county's emergency manager and is on call 24/7.
Commissioners say the reason they made the changes is to make the current wages comparable to the wages of other counties like Benzie and Antrim.
Stuart McKinnon says, "This is not about politics. This is about being fiscally responsible."
2013 Current
Clerk $45648 $43000
Treasurer $45644 $43000
Controller $53723 $49130
Equalization $49102 $45500
Prosecutor $71709 $78604
Sheriff $53062 $60343
One commissioner tells 7&4 News that he was never even notified about last week's special meeting so he couldn't vote. The clerk was supposed to contact commissioners but admits she didn't.
