Lombard freezes pay for about 30 employees
The base salaries of about 30 village of Lombard employees will be frozen for the next three years based on the results of a salary study that compared their pay with other public and private sector workers.
Those employees will see pay freezes because their salaries are at or above the top of a range for their position that was adjusted after the study, Village Manager David Hulseberg said.
“What’s functionally happening is their salary is locked in,” Hulseberg said.
The study, conducted by The Archer Company and Fox Lawson & Associates compared Lombard employees’ compensation to workers at 10 municipalities: Addison, Bolingbrook, Carol Stream, Downers Grove, Elk Grove Village, Elmhurst, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Park Ridge and Wheaton. It also analyzed Lombard pay compared to private sector pay data gathered from four surveys.
The results showed the village was paying its employees 10.3 percent more on average than private sector workers with similar jobs, but 1.1 percent less on average than comparable municipal workers.
Hulseberg said municipal pay has been artificially inflated because towns would adjust the salary range for each position — instead of just the employee’s pay — when they approved a cost of living increase.
Salary studies that only look at other municipalities reinforce the inflation, he said, which is why Lombard also studied private sector pay this time around.
“We took a look at the pay and we said half of every position will be based off what the private sector is doing, and the other half will be what the public sector is doing,” Hulseberg said. “We did the regression analysis to recreate what we think is a fair compromise.”
Pay ranges decreased for 42 positions and increased for 19 positions, and will remain in effect until the village completes its next salary study in three years. Lombard plans to hire a consultant to conduct a salary study every three years to make sure wages remain competitively balanced.
The village board approved the new pay ranges and resulting pay freezes for some employees last month.
“The goal of the salary freeze was to begin working toward reflecting private industry,” Trustee Laura Fitzpatrick said.
She said it was difficult but necessary to set the new salary ranges and freeze some workers’ pay.
Trustee Zachary Wilson also said the decision to approve the salary ranges and pay freezes was tough, but added municipal workers shouldn’t be paid top dollar at taxpayers’ expense.
“We have to be responsible for the taxpayers,” he said. “It’s not about giving all the employees the highest salary and best benefits.”
Changes to the pay ranges are retroactive to June 1, 2011.
Not affected by the new pay ranges are workers in the four unions that represent village employees as well as fire lieutenants, battalion chiefs and police lieutenants.
Union employee pay will continue to be governed by contracts, and fire lieutenants are paid based on a step system spelled out separately in the salary structure approved in April.