Dearest reader,
The Merrill ledger continues.
This time, I opened the district's calendar year 2024 compensation disclosure—the report covering employees with wages exceeding $100,000 and/or the superintendent.
And this particular page of the ledger is rather short.
There is one name by position.
🏫 Superintendent
💰 Gross wages: $104,952.96
🏦 Retirement: $49,086.44
🏥 Health package: $25,303.44
🧾 FICA/Medicare: $7,653.63
📋 Workers' compensation: $52.52
Add everything together:
💰 Total compensation: $187,048.99
Now, spectacles on. 👓
The superintendent's gross wages themselves aren't what caught my attention.
It was the benefits.
The district reported $49,086.44 in retirement costs—approximately 46.8% of gross wages.
The health package added another $25,303.44.
Together, retirement and health benefits totaled:
$74,389.88.
That is roughly 71% of the superintendent's gross wages before adding FICA/Medicare and workers' compensation.
Well now.
Does that automatically make the compensation unreasonable?
No.
And I'm not going to manufacture a scandal simply because a number is large.
The purpose of the ledger is to show you what the district reported, put the pieces together, and continue following them through the broader financial picture.
Sometimes a receipt raises a question.
Sometimes it provides an answer.
And sometimes it simply belongs in the ledger so everyone can see it.
There are still more pages to turn in Merrill.
And remember:
Small districts can have very different ledgers. 🪶
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #MerrillCommunitySchools #SaginawCounty #MichiganSchools #SuperintendentCompensation #TeacherPay #SchoolFinance #PublicEducation #FinancialTransparency #FollowTheReceipts #NumbersTellAStoryToo #WithReceiptsAndRespect