Some on Lake Co. board may get pay freezes

Concerned about the economy, a Lake County Board committee on Wednesday recommended pay freezes for a third of the board.

The salaries of eight members - those up for election this November - would be frozen at their current level for two years if the full board approves the recommendation from the financial and administrative committee.

The committee also recommended freezing the wages of the countywide officers up for election this year. The salaries of the county treasurer, sheriff, regional superintendent of schools and county clerk would be affected.

"These are troubling economic times, and we don't know when they're going to end," said committee member Anne Flanigan Bassi, a Highland Park Democrat. "We have to err on the side of conservatism."

Although well-intentioned, the recommendation isn't guaranteed to survive. The subject of pay raises has led to heated debates on the boardroom floor in recent years, and proposals have changed because of those discussions.

Some board members have argued for pay boosts in the past, even as the economy worsened. Last year, four Democrats were the only commissioners who refused to give back raises the board approved when times were better.

The county board sets salaries for a chunk of its members and various countywide officials every two years, six months before election winners are sworn into office.

The salaries apply to whomever is elected, incumbent or newcomer.

The affected county board members would be those representing District 4, in the Zion area; District 7, in the Gurnee area; District 13, in the Lake Forest area; District 15, in the Libertyville area; District 18, in the Vernon Hills area; District 19, in the Lake Zurich area; District 21, in the Lincolnshire area; and District 23, in the Highland Park area.

The pay freeze would create a pay disparity between those members and the commissioners whose seats aren't up for election this year.

Every county board member except for the chairman now earns $40,945 a year. The chairman earns twice that.

If the freeze is approved, the eight commissioners elected this year would continue earning $40,945 in 2011 and 2012.

However, the other members would earn $42,480 in 2011 and $44,074 in 2012.

As for the four countywide officers up for election this year, the proposal would freeze their salaries - $149,100 for the sheriff and $116,986 for each of the others - for two years.

The proposal calls for 2-percent raises for those four officials in 2013 and again in 2014.

Other countywide officials - the coroner, circuit court clerk and recorder of deeds - wouldn't be bound by the pay freeze and would earn more over time than their counterparts.

That doesn't bother county board Chairwoman Suzi Schmidt.

"I know people who haven't gotten raises in five years," said Schmidt, a Lake Villa Republican. "I don't think anyone's going to complain about making $116,000."

County commissioners will debate the proposal at a committee-of-the-whole session scheduled for May 7. A vote could occur May 11.