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Campton Hills leaders want to hire administrator

Campton Hills trustees have given the go-ahead for their 2014 budget to include the new position of village administrator.

Trustees signed off on the idea Tuesday night and the next step is for the village’s finance committee to determine how much funding can be set aside for the position and whether it should be full- or part-time, Village President Patsy Smith said.

“I’ve done it for almost six years. I’ve put a lot of hours in. I’ve had so many hats, it’s too much for one person,” Smith said, who was paid $18,000 last year as president and added she had no idea of how many estimated hours a week she worked while trying to fulfill both roles. “It takes a lot of energy to create and maintain a village.”

Ideally, Smith she’d like to have a person hired by June, when the village’s 2014 fiscal year starts.

Smith said the village, which was incorporated in spring 2007, literally didn’t have the space for a village administrator until last July. That’s when the village bought an office building that now hosts village offices and the police department.

When the village was formed nearly six years ago, leaders pledged to keep taxes low and also have a policy of keeping six months of operating funds in reserves.

“We need to be sustainable, so other areas may be cut (to free up funds for the administrator position),” Smith said. “It will become pretty clear in the next month. I believe we need a full-time administrator. That’s my personal opinion. We’ve never had one and I’ve volunteered and done the job since the incorporation. It’s time.”

  Village President Patsy Smith checks on Chief of Police Daniel Hoffman as he settles into his office at the new Campton Hills Village Hall in July 2012. With more space at the village hall — along with the trustees’ giving the go ahead to free up funds — the village is expected to hire an administrator in the coming months. Smith has been handling those chores since Campton Hills’ incorporation. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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