Kane department heads get big raises for second straight year

It pays to be a member of Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen's executive leadership team. And next year, it will pay more than ever.

The county board's finance committee approved raises for 11 employees Friday, marking the second straight year department heads will receive pay bumps over and above the rank-and-file staff.

The total cost of the raises is $63,226. The added cost will be balanced out with one-time matching expense reductions.

That's good news for fans of the county board's commitment for keeping its portion of the property tax levy flat. County leaders will have to find ongoing savings in future years to keep the raises from becoming an ongoing additional expense.

The bulk of the county department heads will receive 5 percent raises. Two executives, Director of Emergency Communications Brad Sauer and Human Resources Management Executive Director Sheila McCraven will receive 2 percent raises. And a recently created maintenance supervisor position will see a 28 percent pay increase to create an annual salary of $45,500 for the role.

Lauzen has defended executive raises, both this year and last year, as necessary to keep and attract high-quality employees. He noted that even with the pay bumps, most of the executives will still be behind the salaries of their peers in comparable counties.

Kane County lists DuPage, Lake, Will, McHenry, Kendall and DeKalb counties as its comparable competitors for the best staff. DuPage, Lake and Will counties are all at least 160,000 residents larger than Kane. McHenry, Kendall and DeKalb are all at least 214,000 residents smaller.

"Generally our philosophy is require superior performance, then pay in the median," Lauzen said.

Indeed, six of the 11 people receiving raises will still rank toward the bottom for comparable positions in the comparison counties.

Finance Committee Chairman John Hoscheit said he is comfortable with the raises because "the adjustments are, No. 1, within our budget. And, they are based, in part, on merit and, in part, on comparable salaries."

He said next year any similar raises should come forward as part of the normal budgeting process for the year. The county board recently completed that process for the 2015 fiscal year, which begins at the conclusion of this month.

The full county board must still vote on the raises.