Oxford Village Councilman Erik Dolan expressed his concern last week that the municipality’s clerk-treasurer duties are still being temporarily handled by a $43-per-hour independent contractor as opposed to hiring someone to fill the position.

“We have someone in a position that’s keeping the ship afloat, so to speak, but we have a responsibility to the village to staff it properly and we’re not doing that,” he said.

Dolan made a successful motion to add the item to council’s meeting agenda because he felt the issue was not being addressed.

It was supposed to be discussed at council’s March 27 work-study session, but only 30 minutes was allotted for that entire meeting and officials ran out of time before they could broach the subject.

As he had “received no information whatsoever” and the topic was originally not part of the April 10 meeting agenda, Dolan moved to add it, which succeeded in a 3-2 vote.

“We have a responsibility to the residents to have open discussions and (as) expeditiously as possible staff these positions in an adequate manner,” Dolan said.

The clerk-treasurer position has been vacant since June 2017.

Since Aug, 28, Lori Fisher, the elected treasurer for Addison Township, has been handling a number of things normally done by the clerk/treasurer, but doing so as an independent contractor. Under the terms of her three-page agreement with the village, Fisher is performing the functions and duties of the municipal treasurer, maintaining the general ledger and handling payroll and accounting services. Her time is “not to exceed 20 hours per work week,” according to the contract.

Fisher was originally paid $49.50 per hour, but she lowered her rate to $43 as of Dec. 18. She is not receiving any fringe benefits. As of March 30, she had earned a total of $26,108.

Since coming to work for the village, council has voted three times to extend Fisher’s contract. The last time was at the Feb. 27 meeting when officials voted 3-1 to extend it for another 60 days.

Two things were of concern to Dolan.

One is the pay rate. “We’re paying someone $43 an hour to fill a part-time role,” Dolan said.

Dolan noted Fisher is receiving in some cases “more than twice” the hourly rate for clerks and treasurers in and around Oakland County based on a survey conducted in November by Evan Teich, the village’s former interim manager.

For that survey, Teich gathered information from Romeo, Davison, Clarkston, Ortonville, Holly and Lake Orion.

“The range of (hourly) pay (for) clerk seems to be $16 (to) $31.25,” Teich wrote. “The range of (hourly) pay (for) treasurer seems to be $14.50 (to) $26.44.”

Dolan said those who have previously espoused extending Fisher’s contract have argued the “village is still saving money due to the fact that we are not paying benefits.”

As clerk-treasurer, Nassar was paid an annual salary of $46,083, plus $22,477 in benefits, for a total compensation package of $68,560.

Had she accepted the position last year, Lee Ann O’Connor would have been paid a salary of $56,000, plus $32,238 in benefits, according to figures provided by village Manager Joseph Madore. Oxford offered the job to O’Connor, but she turned it down to remain clerk for the City of Rochester.

If Fisher were to work for the village for an entire year at $43 per hour (no benefits) and 20 hours a week (a total of 1,040 hours), Madore indicated it would cost $44,720, which is less than Nassar and O’Connor.

But Dolan said no-benefits argument doesn’t address the fact that Fisher “is wholly unqualified” due to her lack of clerk and treasurer certifications. Although she is “performing admirably” based on “all accounts,” Dolan said, “My understanding is that the individual is not certified as a clerk. The individual is not certified as a treasurer.”

With regard to the certification issue, Madore didn’t see this as a major problem.

“I don’t know to what end those (certifications) would change her ability to do this job,” he said.

“Some of those certifications are pretty light-duty,” Madore continued. “I know clerks that have gone (through the certification process) and they wouldn’t hold a candle to what we have going on right now. Sometimes those classes are you show up, you put your time in and you get a certification with some really modest training or testing.”

Dolan responded that if certifications are “that simple to obtain,” he “would think the individual who has a relatively lucrative contract on the backs of these taxpaying citizens would on her own accord – or his own accord, depending on the situation – receive those certifications if they wanted to continue forward in the position.”

To Madore, the big concern with hiring someone to fill this vacancy is financial.

“I’m really not in a hurry to go and incur an extra $40,000 in costs as we run out the clock on this last budget year because I didn’t put this budget together,” he explained. “I don’t know where all the ins and outs are of it. I don’t have a great document to work from. Some (expenses) show up out of the blue.”

The village’s current fiscal year expires June 30.

Madore explained to council members that he wanted to get the village’s overall financial picture straight, so he can provide them with accurate documentation in order to address the clerk-treasurer position going forward.

He’s currently in the process of preparing the 2018-19 village budget for council’s consideration. His plan is to present the proposed budget at the April 24 meeting. Madore then wants to sit down with council in a work-study meeting and go through the budget line-by-line, so everybody understands where the village is at financially.

Dolan pointed out the 2017-18 budget had allocated money for a full-time clerk-treasurer. “We should be staffing (it) in its entirety,” he said.

Councilwoman Maureen Helmuth also voiced her displeasure that an independent contractor is still being used to handle the clerk-treasurer’s duties.

“I have a problem with this position,” she said. “As you all know, I’ve voted against it every time it comes up.”

“The position was never posted as a part-time position at $49.50 an hour,” Helmuth continued. “We have to stop. We’ve got to get the clerk-treasurer thing solved immediately, in my opinion.”

Councilman Joe Frost pointed out that Fisher’s third contract extension expires at the end of April. “There needs to be something decided to move forward, so we’re not just kicking the can (down the road) another 60 days,” he said.

Ultimately, council decided to discuss the clerk-treasurer issue during a work-study session to be held on Monday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the village’s community room (22 W. Burdick St.). Work-study meetings are open to the public and subject to the Open Meetings Act.