Rolling Meadows council votes down pay raises

Members of Rolling Meadows City Council were in no giving mood Tuesday, voting down a proposed 1 percent pay increase for nonunion employee supervisors.

In December, council members voted in favor of a 1 percent increase to nonunion personnel excluding the city manager, police chief, fire chief, director of public works, community development director, assistant city manager and several other supervisory positions. The ordinance discussed Tuesday would have given a 1 percent raise to those exempted from the previous salary increase.

Alderman Barb Lusk, in her last meeting before leaving the council, was the only member who voted in favor of the increase.

“Our people do a fantastic job; they work hard. It’s not matter of money in my opinion, and I don’t think it is to them either. It’s a matter of recognition,” she said.

Alderman Jim Larsen agreed that he’d like to recognize city employee managers but said that many residents haven’t received raises from their jobs in years, making a raise for supervisors hard to justify.

“We can’t afford to be giving out raises at this point. It’s not that I don’t think they deserve it,” he said.

The council later talked transparency regarding city-paid salaries in a discussion brought by Alderman Glenn Adams. Adams said that some surrounding communities post salary information of their employees to their websites. Currently, Rolling Meadows publishes titles and salary ranges according to a state statue, but members of the council weighed the pros and cons of publishing specific information on personnel salaries.

Alderman Brad Judd was in favor of posting specific salaries with titles. “Let’s be honest. Who’s paying them? We’re the ones writing the check,” he said.

Judd noted that residents have access to how much the village spends on everything from salt to roadwork, adding that he thinks a clear picture of where the money’s going is needed after several recent property tax increases.

The council asked for more information before reviewing the issue at a future meeting.