(1) In place of the procedure in section 6 for determining the salary of each elected official, the township board may establish by ordinance the procedure described in this section. The ordinance shall provide the following:
(a) A local officials compensation commission is created. The commission shall determine the salary of each township elected official. The commission shall consist of 5 members who are registered electors of the township, appointed by the supervisor subject to confirmation by a majority of the members elected and serving on the township board. The terms of office shall be 5 years, except that of the members first appointed, 1 each shall be appointed for terms of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years. All first members shall be appointed not more than 30 days after the effective date of the ordinance. Members other than the first members shall be appointed before October 1 of the year of appointment. Vacancies shall be filled for the remainder of an unexpired term. An officer or employee of a government agency or unit or a member of the immediate family of that officer or employee shall not be appointed to the commission.
(b) The commission shall determine the salary of each township elected official 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. A determination of the commission shall be effective 30 days following its filing with the township clerk unless rejected by the township board. If a determination is rejected, the existing salary shall prevail. An expense allowance or reimbursement paid to an elected official in addition to salary shall be for expenses incurred in the course of township business and accounted for to the township.
(c) The commission shall meet for not more than 15 session days in each odd numbered year and shall make a determination within 45 calendar days of the first meeting. A majority of the members of the commission constitutes a quorum for conducting the business of the commission. The commission shall not take action or make a determination without a concurrence of a majority of the members appointed and serving on the commission. The commission shall elect a chairperson from among the commission’s members. As used in this section, “session days” means a calendar day on which the commission meets and a quorum is present. The members of the commission shall not receive compensation, but shall be entitled to actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties.
(2) The business which the commission may perform shall be conducted at a public meeting of the commission held in compliance with Act No. 267 of the Public Acts of 1976, as amended, being sections 15.261 to 15.275 of the Michigan Compiled Laws. Public notice of the time, date, and place of the meeting shall be given in the manner required by Act No. 267 of the Public Acts of 1976, as amended.
(3) The township board may implement the ordinance by resolution including the date for convening the commission.
(4) Not more than 60 days after the effective date of the ordinance, a petition for a referendum on the ordinance may be filed with the township clerk containing the signatures of at least 5% of the registered electors of the township on the effective date of the ordinance in which case the election shall be conducted in the same manner as an election on a charter amendment. If a petition for a referendum is filed, a determination of the commission shall not be effective until the ordinance has been approved by the electors.
(5) After 1 year following the effective date of the ordinance, the procedure for establishing the compensation of township elected officials may be changed by ordinance.
(6) 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. Notwithstanding the above, if a township in setting a township supervisor’s salary has designated a portion of the supervisor’s salary to be paid the supervisor for directly performing the property tax assessing function within the township and the supervisor subsequently fails to perform that function, the salary of the supervisor may be reduced by that portion of the supervisor’s salary designated for the direct performance of the property tax assessment function; provided that in no event may that portion of a supervisor’s salary designated for non-assessment functions be decreased during the supervisor’s term of office without the supervisor’s written consent.