The Oconto County Board on Thursday delayed action on a plan to freeze members’ compensation and strip the County Board chairman of medical and dental insurance.
The resolution was pulled after Supervisor Greg Sekela said it was illegally brought forward.
Oconto County Corporation Counsel Cheryl Mick agreed, saying supervisory compensation can be changed only at the board’s annual meeting, scheduled Oct. 29.
The Personnel and Wages Committee had recommended rates be adopted now for the next supervisory term, April 2016 to 2018. The committee analyzed salary, fringe benefits and per diems (payments for meeting attendance), especially for County Board Chairman Lee Rymer, who was compensated $38,147 for 2014, including $21,064 in fringe benefits.
“The problem we’re having is the budget. We’re running out of funds to supplement our budgets every year, and we’re trying to find ways to cut costs,” Gerald Beekman, chair of the Personnel and Wages Committee, told the Times Herald in a phone interview.
Beekman said Oconto County is “very generous” in its compensation for the chairman, compared with other counties.
The committee recommended the chairman salary remain at $7,200 annually and per diem payments remain at $60 for committee meetings and $75 for County Board meetings. As for fringe benefits, the committee recommended the county pay for those mandated by law: retirement, Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), workers compensation and Medicare costs, which totaled $1,884 for the chairman in 2014, according to information provided by the county.
The committee recommended dropping the chairman’s medical insurance, which cost $16,920 for 2014 and dental insurance, which totalled $660 in 2014.
“It’s a nice benefit, that’s for sure,” said Rymer, 77, regarding the health insurance package.
Rymer has been a supervisor for 28 years and chairman for 17.
“The chairmen have always had it,” he said of the benefit package.
He acknowledged insurance costs have skyrocketed over time.
Rymer said he will go along with what the committee recommends, reversing his opposition to the loss of health insurance benefits he had expressed at committee meetings.
The committee also recommended supervisors’ compensation remain at $60 per committee meeting and $75 for County Board meetings. The County Board vice chair would earn an annual salary of $500, according to the committee’s proposal.
Supervisors also receive mileage reimbursement at the IRS rate.
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