The Detroit News reports that Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz will collect a $23,000 bonus today.
An obscure law has allowed Wojtowicz to receive more than $540,000 over the past 15 years for collecting delinquent taxes for county communities.
Wojtowicz makes no apologies for the pay that comes atop his $116,000 salary, but county commissioners say he's the only Michigan treasurer to take the cash and want the state to ban the bonus. Some say it's unseemly for Wojtowicz to make money from a recession that's devastated families.
Wojtowicz's chief deputy treasurer, David Szymanski, claims the payment isn't a bonus. He called it part of Wojtowicz's compensation for borrowing money so municipalities can pay bills while the county collects delinquent taxes. The office will borrow $225 million this year.
