Lombard debates transparency in public salaries

Lombard village board members all agree their town needs to be transparent about salaries of public employees.

But they disagree about how to define such openness and exactly what information should be posted online.

Trustee Peter Breen, who proposed an 11-part website transparency policy that sparked the salary discussion, and Trustee Zachary Wilson said they favor posting the name and exact salary of every village employee.

“I’m actually for full disclosure,” Wilson said. “I think that every employee that is paid by tax dollars, there ought to be an exact amount.”

But two proposals in a draft of the website transparency policy suggest posting gross yearly wages and overtime payments by job title, but not by name; or listing salaries for all positions in $25,000 increments as part of the annual treasurer’s report.

Trustee Keith Giagnorio said he thinks residents only want the village to maintain good police and fire departments, fix potholes, plow streets and provide other basic services. He said the village website already is transparent and he hears no public outcry for more information.

“I don’t think people are too concerned about who makes what,” Giagnorio said.

But Trustee Laura Fitzpatrick said salaries draw more public interest than the other categories of information discussed in the website transparency policy, including village budgets, expenditures, contracts, financial audits, taxes and fees.

“Out of all the items, that particular issue is the most outstanding to the public,” Fitzpatrick said.

She said residents looking for public information should be able to find it themselves.

“The idea is this needs to be readily available,” she said.

No consensus could be reached on either of the salary suggestions in the draft policy.

Village President Bill Mueller rejected both options, but said he is open to providing some type of compensation information online.

“I don’t object to putting the list of salaries in some format,” Mueller said.

A new proposal will be drafted and brought before the village board at its Sept. 15 meeting, he said.