Grand Traverse County Commissioner Alisa Kroupa is requesting a commission vote on a resolution next Wednesday (March 23) to eliminate salaries and per diem payments for county commissioners for two years.

Kroupa announced her intention to place the proposal on next week’s board agenda during a commission review of the county’s outstanding pension and retiree healthcare debt Wednesday night. Governmental consultant Mary Lannoye presented findings to commissioners showing the debt will reach nearly $59 million by the end of 2016, forcing officials to consider options in the coming months that will range from renegotiating union contracts to decreasing benefits for new hires to bonding the obligations.

Kroupa said the mounting liabilities mean commissioners are “going to have to ask each and every citizen to make concessions in the level of (county) services that they receive,” she said. “We’re going to have to ask past and current employees to make concessions in promises that were made to them.” The comment referenced several former and current county employees who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting and expressed concerns about how their benefits will be impacted by suggested cuts, as well as frustration that employees had accepted lower wages in past county negotiations in exchange for promised better retirement benefits.

Kroupa said she wanted to “lead by example” by requesting that county commissioners eliminate their own salary and per diem payments. Though changes in commission compensation can only take place in a new term - meaning January 1 would be the soonest a decrease could be implemented - Kroupa said she believed commissioners should "serve for nothing on the county board until we solve this (debt) problem."

“I am determined if I am going to continue to serve as a commissioner, that I am not going to take a dollar of this county’s money,” Kroupa said. “When you lead from the top by example and you sacrifice, you instill a spirit of sacrifice in everybody. I am so sorry Grand Traverse County is in this position…I can’t fix it by myself, but I can sacrifice as a public servant, because I believe we have the right team sitting here that will do this.”

County commissioners did not offer input Wednesday on Kroupa's recommendation, as it was not an official agenda item up for discussion. Commissioners will review the proposal at next Wednesday's meeting at 6pm at the Governmental Center.