DuPage deputies, prosecutors could score big raises

DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba and State's Attorney Joseph Birkett are pleading for double-digit percentage raises for deputies and assistant prosecutors.

The two said the raises would help retain experienced employees and attract the best-qualified new ones. They made their pitches Tuesday to the county board's judicial and public safety committee.

Birkett is seeking 11 percent pay hikes for the nearly 100 assistant state's attorneys. Finance committee Chairman Patrick O'Shea said Zaruba is seeking to increase deputy salaries as much as 16 percent.

Both men want to increase the starting salaries for those positions as well, complaining they can't compete with surrounding counties who offer more competitive compensation packages.

"We're still at the level we were at in 2005," Birkett said. He added that starting pay for prosecutors is $48,784.

The county is conducting a compensation study to determine at what level Birkett's cadre of assistant prosecutors should be paid, said Fred Backfield, the county's chief financial officer. But that study may not be done in time for this year's budget. The county board has until Nov. 30 to approve the budget. Backfield said the compensation study might not be complete until December.

"I'm embarrassed about the amount of money we're paying our assistant state's attorneys," said judicial and public safety committee Chairman Michael McMahon. "They are some of the best and yet some of the lowest-paid. I think Joe needs the whole 11 percent."

Zaruba's request is a little more complex. Unlike other county departments, the county board has limited oversight of the sheriff's budget. County board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom set aside roughly $2 million in his budget proposal for Zaruba to use for raises. That money comes from a quarter-percentage-point sales tax hike implemented this year to help pay for transportation and public safety initiatives.

In addition, Zaruba has also yet to distribute $350,000 the board gave him in April to use as salary augmentation for deputies, Backfield said.

"It's a big ball of money," he said, "and distributing that is what we're negotiating."

Some board members believe the county is paying a premium for deputies who work in the jail or courthouse while underpaying patrol deputies.

Zaruba contends all deputies are cross-trained and interchangeable and that's why they're all on the same salary schedule. He said it would cost the county more if deputies were trained in just one of the three areas of need.

"Not having that union restriction we can utilize our human resources in a way that is most beneficial to the taxpayers," he said.

Schillerstrom is proposing all county employees receive a 1.5 percent pay increase and they would also be eligible for merit raises as well. His proposal calls for departments to receive a pool of cash equal to 2 percent of the personnel budget to distribute among employees. The board would likely cap the maximum raise workers can get so the funds can be distributed more widely.