Kane County Board locks in future salary freeze

Kane County Board members agreed to freeze the salaries of some of the county's highest-paid elected officials Tuesday, but shunned immediate debate on the value of county employees earning six figures.

The freeze for some elected officials won't have an impact until December 2012, when redistricting will mean the re-election of every county board seat. County board salaries will be frozen at $25,000 from December 2012 to December 2013 in a move board members described as setting a positive example for the county. The board also voted to freeze salaries of the auditor, circuit court clerk, coroner, recorder and county board chairman from December 2012 to December 2015.

Elected positions on the November ballot - sheriff, county clerk and treasurer - will have pay freezes that take affect this December.

County board member Jim Mitchell hailed the vote as a positive move, but chastised it for being too narrow in scope. Mitchell pointed to the new, nearly $91,000 salary for the circuit court clerk as an example of work left unfinished.

"That's a substantial sum," Mitchell said. "But we have approximately 15 or more department heads who exceed that."

Mitchell said many of those department heads have smaller budgets, staff and less critical duties, drawing into question why those employees make so much money. Mitchell called for a full review of department salaries to see if they are justified. He also wants to create a salary range that would effectively place a salary cap on the department head positions, similar to what already exists at the Kane County Forest Preserve District.

Board member Gerald Jones said Mitchell unfairly characterized how county staff salaries are set, insulting every one involved with making those decisions.

"People are making an assumption that this has not been properly vetted," Jones said. "That is not the case. People are evaluated on their performance."

Mitchell responded that he's been on the committees that evaluate salaries and found little interest in debate about salary ranges for department heads. He moved to table the salary freeze for elected officials in hopes of tying it to a vote on salary ranges for department heads. That motion failed. The county board only approved the salary freeze for elected officials.

County employees recently showed they might also favor a review of department head salaries. Maintenance workers complained to the county board last month about being stonewalled on a request for a 3 percent raise while three of their department heads received raises of as much as 18 percent.