Kane County discusses raises of more than 30%

Some Kane County officials on the November ballot may receive raises of more than 30 percent if their campaigns are successful, according to several county board members.

Behind-the-scenes discussions on elected officials' pay began this week, and multiple county board members confirmed they received or saw a spreadsheet comparing county leaders' salaries to those of neighboring peers. The document was not made available Friday.

County board Chairman Chris Lauzen's office denied any knowledge of the document, as did the county finance and human resources departments.

Board members who saw the spreadsheet all said it calls for Lauzen's base salary to increase to $140,000. That would be a 33 percent salary bump for Lauzen, who has no Democratic opponent this November. Board members interviewed said the other suggested raises had similarly large increases.

Lauzen could not be reached for comment Friday. But John Hoscheit, chairman of the county board's finance committee, said any raise of that size would be tough to justify. However, if there truly is that much disparity between the current salary and what comparisons show to be reasonable compensation for the job, the board should discuss it, Hoscheit said.

"We've had a period of several years where we've not even had a discussion about elected officials' salaries," Hoscheit said. "The difficulty becomes, if you wait too long, the salaries become so far out of reality that trying to adjust them to be competitive becomes very difficult. We want to attract and keep competent people. But with the desire to keep the (property tax) levy frozen, any increase in expenses needs to be considered very carefully."

Lauzen isn't the only one in line for a raise. There are four other officials on the ballot in November: Circuit Court Clerk Tom Hartwell, Auditor Terry Hunt, Coroner Rob Russell and Recorder Sandy Wegman. State's Attorney Joe McMahon is also on the ballot, but the state legislature sets his salary ($166,508 this year).

County board member Kurt Kojzarek said part of what is fueling the discussion is that some elected leaders make roughly the same salary as people they supervise.

"When the salaries of the people they oversee start to be the same, or close to the same as their bosses, there starts to be a question of respect for the authority of the position," Kojzarek said.

In several offices, that highest salary authority is a question mark.

Hartwell, for example, has a base salary of $90,655 this year. His chief deputy, Karin Herwick, has a base salary of $88,768. An even larger question mark exists in the coroner's office. Five out of Russell's six employees took home more money last year than Russell, whose base salary was $88,214.

Russell said he's heard chatter about raises for the elected department heads, but it's not something he's requested or thinks is needed. If board members think Russell's employees should earn less than he does, the solution is already in hand, he said. A union contract has been pending for months that would address the per diem and overtime money that drove six-figure compensation for half Russell's staff last year.

Officials willing to be interviewed either wouldn't share the suggested raises for the countywide elected officials other than Lauzen, or they said they couldn't recall what they were. If the proposal is formalized, state law will force those numbers to become public very soon.

The law says an elected official's compensation can't be changed during the official's term of office. And any salary changes must be made at least 180 days prior to when the elected officials receiving those raises would take office. That means any raises must be approved by the first week of June. They wouldn't take effect until the new terms of office begin on Dec. 1.

Drew Frasz, the county board's vice chairman, said he believes any raise proposal will be dead on arrival.

"I can't imagine it going anywhere," Frasz said. "I wouldn't support it. My recollection from what I saw on the spreadsheet was that it's not like they are getting paid a ridiculously low amount now. They knew what the pay was when they ran for the office."