Farmers Weekly Review

By Nick Reiher

For the first time in nearly two decades, the Will County Board approved salary increases for countywide officials and for County Board members.

Though approved at the board’s April 17 meeting, the salary increases will not take effect until after respective elections for those posts. (See charts). They do not affect current officeholders.

Board Speaker Joe Van Duyne, D-Wilmington, said he was seeking bipartisan support to head off problems they’ve had in recent years when considering salary increases.

That included last June, when board members held a special meeting the day before the deadline to consider raising salaries in anticipation of the November 5 election.

The issue became so heated that Republicans, led by then-Board Chair Judy Ogalla, R-Monee, walked out of the meeting in frustration. That meant salaries for county offices up for election the following November remained as they had since 2008.

This time, Republican board members Frankie Pretzel of New Lenox and Dave Oxley of Lockport joined the nine Democratic board members in voting for the salary increases for countywide officials, while Oxley was the one Republican voting for the County Board salary increases.

In the private sector, Oxley said, there was no chance of employees agreeing to go without some type of salary increase for 17 years.

As it has in past years, the discussion of salary increases for countywide officials fell back to whether they are considered full-time positions.

This time, the discussion took a heated turn when Board Member Katie Deane-Schlottman, R-Joliet, saw three countywide officials – Treasurer Tim Brophy, Coroner Laurie Summers and Recorder of Deeds Karen Stukel – among those in the audience.

She charged she had not seen the three at any other board meetings, but they showed up this time because their salaries were being discussed.

The three refuted that charge when they were asked to speak about their duties by Board Member Mark Revis, R-Plainfield.

In defending their posts as full-time, Summers and Stukel were particularly offended. Summers asked board members if they would like to be called at all hours to address deaths from various causes.

Stukel, upset that some board members wondered if the salary increases were worth putting extra strain on taxpayers, said she, too, is a taxpayer.

“My taxes go up each year, too. But my salary hasn’t. I’m living paycheck to paycheck.”

The three also itemized savings they have made in their offices, despite the workload increasing due to county growth.

Revis said he appreciated their efforts, but he still believed “taxpayers deserve a break more than countywide officials deserve a pay increase.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Tatroe put a lid on the full-time issue when she stated the Legislature set up the positions as salaried, and IMRF considers them full-time.

That they are not always in their offices during the work day does not mean they are not attending to other business on behalf of the county, she said.

Admitting he was waffling on the issue, Pretzel told the board he was convinced to vote for the countywide increases after Van Duyne made a commitment to help find the nearly $300,000 in the upcoming budget to fund the salary hikes.

“I am going to hold your feet to the fire,” Pretzel told Van Duyne.

Although he voted against both the countywide and County Board salary increases, Republican Leader Jim Richmond, R-Mokena, who also serves as Finance Committee Chair, said he would help Van Duyne any way he could to find the money in the budget.

Voting for the countywide salary increases were Democratic Leader Sherry Williams, D-Crest Hill; Pretzel; Sherry Newquist, D-Steger; Oxley; Herb Brooks, D-Joliet; Denise Winfrey, D-Joliet; Dawn Bullock, D-Plainfield; Mica Freeman, D-Plainfield; Destinee Ortiz, D-Romeoville; Kelly Hickey, D-Naperville; Elnalyn Costa, D-Bolingbrook; Jackie Traynere, D-Bolingbrook; and Van Duyne.

Voting against the countywide increases were Richmond; Deane-Schlottman; Ogalla; Dan Butler, R-Frankfort; Steve Balich, R-Homer Glen; Vince Logan, R-Joliet; Revis; Raquel Mitchell, R-Bolingbrook; and Julie Berkowicz, R-Naperville.

After trying to get both sets of salary proposals remanded to the Finance Committee for more information, Butler was especially vocal in opposing the increases.

He said spending the extra money was inappropriate for several reasons, including “misappropriation of public assets,” since the board voted to tear down the old courthouse when it could have been renovated for other use; failing to address spending additional money to provide special transportation for the elderly and disabled in western and northwestern townships; and ignoring public safety by failing to pass resolutions regarding illegal immigrants, as other counties have.

While IMRF considers County Board positions as part time, Newquist said she has changed to mind toward supporting increases because her duties have increased “exponentially.”

At an April 1 Finance Committee meeting, Berkowicz agreed with that assessment.

“I think the salaries for County Board members are too low,” she said at the April 1 meeting. “Our jobs don’t end at the committees. We are part of the communities … No one can tell me this is a part-time job.”

Berkowicz voted against the proposal at that meeting, only because she wanted more information before sending it to the board’s April 10 Executive Committee meeting.

Otherwise, Berkowicz, who last year was opposed to the salary increases, said, she now favored a raise from the current base of $23,000 a year. She voted against both proposals at the April 17 County Board meeting.

Voting for the County Board salary increases were Williams; Newquist, Oxley; Brooks; Winfrey; Bullock; Freeman; Ortiz; Hickey; Costa; Traynere; and Van Duyne.

Voting against the countywide increases were Richmond; Deane-Schlottman; Pretzel; Ogalla; Butler; Balich; Logan; Revis; Mitchell; and Berkowicz.

Board Members also serve as Will County Forest Preserve District commissioners. All commissioners are paid once per month, only for the meetings they attend at $36 each per day. Two or more meetings on one day would be $36 total.

Officers of the district board are paid monthly, regardless of attending any meetings: Board President, $208.33; Vice-President, $125; Board Secretary, $125; and Treasurer, $125.

Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review.