News & Information

Reducing the Salary of an Elected Township Official. In Opinion No. 7258, issued December 1, 2009, the Attorney General concluded that elected officials in a charter township may not lawfully consent to a reduction in a salary that has been established under Section 6a of the Charter Township Act, MCL 42.6a, unless the consent is in writing and there is a corresponding reduction in the officer’s responsibilities and requirements.

Section 6a of the Charter Township Act provides for the creation of a local officials compensation commission. Subject to rejection by a two-thirds vote of the township board, the commission determines salaries for elected township officials, “which determination shall be the salary unless the township board by resolution adopted by 2/3 of the members elected to and serving on the board rejects the determination.” [MCL 42.6a(1)(b); emphasis supplied in Opinion.]

A charter township is authorized to decrease an elected official’s salary for his or her current term of office, but only under specified circumstances:

"The salary of an elected township official shall not be decreased during the official’s term of office as long as the responsibilities and requirements of that office are not diminished during the term of the official’s term of office, and the salary of an elected township official shall not be decreased during the official’s term of office unless the official consents in writing to the reduction in salary. . . ." [MCL 42.6a(6); emphasis supplied in Opinion.]

The Attorney General concluded that, based on the foregoing provisions, an elected official of a charter township may not consent to a reduction in his or her salary unless there is a corresponding reduction in the responsibilities and requirements of the office.

The Attorney General also noted that elected officials in general law townships are afforded similar protection against arbitrary salary reductions under the General Law Township Act, which provides in relevant part: “The salary of an elected township official or an official appointed to fill a vacancy shall not be decreased during the official’s term of office unless the responsibilities and requirements of that office are diminished and the official consents in writing to the reduction in salary.” MCL 41.95(2).

Finally, the Attorney General advised that, in a situation where an elected township official’s salary has been improperly reduced, “the township should pay the unpaid portion minus the applicable payroll deductions. The official may then voluntarily return to the township all or a portion of any compensation received.”