Lombard's website transparency policy moving toward vote
Lombard village board members remain divided about whether the exact salaries of village employees should be posted online by employee name, but a website transparency policy spelling out a plan for posting such information is moving forward.
Trustees will vote Thursday, Oct. 20 on a proposed policy that would list a range of wages and benefits for each job title, but not by name.
If the policy is approved, compensation information would be organized by department and listed from highest paid to lowest, at the request of Trustee Laura Fitzpatrick.
Trustees Greg Gron and Bill Ware made sure to confirm names would not be posted along with compensation before agreeing to move the policy toward a vote.
Trustee Keith Giagnorio also opposed listing names, but said he was “in full agreement” with breaking down the information by position and salary ranges.
Trustee Zachary Wilson said he supported posting employee names with their salaries. But he allowed the proposed policy to move forward, saying he wouldn't stop some information from being provided simply because he feels the policy does not go far enough toward making government spending transparent and accessible.
“I'd just like to renew my objection to the salaries. I would like to see them all” posted by name, Wilson said. “But I'm not going to start an argument.”
The policy, proposed by Trustee Peter Breen, also states the village's budgets, financial audits, taxes, fees, and contracts — including agreements with union employees — will be posted along with information such as meeting dates and agendas and contact information for elected officials.
Aside from salaries, discussion among trustees centered on how to post expenditures. Ware said the village should only post its check register online going forward if the policy is approved. But Breen said he favors uploading the past five years of expenditures along with new expenses as they are incurred, and the majority of trustees sided with his view.
The only issue with posting past expenses is village staff first will have to review the listings to ensure no personal information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is included, Finance Director Tim Sexton said.
Village Manager David Hulseberg said staff should be able remove any personal information from the expenses and have the past five years' worth of records ready to post within six months to a year if the policy is approved.