Buffalo Grove board rewards village manager with raise, bonus

Buffalo Grove elected officials on Monday rewarded Village Manager Dane Bragg with a nearly 4 percent raise and $22,250 bonus, money they say is well spent.

Village President Beverly Sussman said Bragg has saved the village money by implementing measures such as outsourcing the maintenance at its two golf courses, leading to $275,000 in savings, and LED street lighting retrofits, saving $100,000.

"(His job) is like running a corporation - an $80 million corporation," Sussman said. "And it's up to Dane and staff to run it so that we can pay all of our bills and run the village well."

Sussman said Bragg also deserves credit for working through an information technology consortium to save the village $170,000 on computer purchases and for negotiating an agreement with the company Connexion that will generate millions of dollars in sales taxes.

She also noted the village's ability to maintain AAA bond ratings from Moody's and Standard & Poor's.

"Dane thinks outside of the box," Sussman added. "Not only is he saving us money, he's generating money for us."

Bragg said he appreciates the confidence and support of the village board.

He said the village faced challenges last year, including the fallout from the state budget stalemate.

"But I think we have maneuvered ourselves pretty well with that," he said.

The raise will bring Bragg's base salary to $192,500.