Rosemont trustees vote themselves 10% raise, but mayor’s $260,000 salary stays the same

Rosemont trustees — who attend short monthly board meetings and ribbon cuttings — are in line for a 10% pay raise, but Mayor Brad Stephens — who doubles as a Republican state representative — is foregoing any salary increase.

The elected panel voted Monday to give themselves a $3,000 pay bump — from an annual salary of $30,000 to $33,000 — but it wouldn’t take effect until after the April 2025 election for three trustees, and two years later for the other three.

Any changes to salaries for local elected officials must be made at least six months before starting a new term.

“I thought that was more than fair with where the economy and inflation has gone, and the results of the village,” Stephens said in recommending the increase.

He added that pay for village employees has increased 23% over the last decade, while trustee salaries have stayed the same.

A 2012 village-commissioned compensation study found the trustee salaries to be “in the upper range” compared with those of elected trustees in other municipalities. So in 2016, they voted to maintain their own salaries at $30,000 a year.

At the same time, they gave the mayor a 53% raise after a village committee determined Stephens was “substantially undercompensated” when his job duties and functions were compared to administrators in other towns.

Despite its 3,800 population size, the 2.5-square-mile sports and entertainment mecca has long been run like a big city with a strong-mayor form of government.

Stephens makes $260,000 as mayor, which includes $25,000 as local liquor commissioner.

But the last pay increase came before his 2019 appointment to the state General Assembly, where he makes $85,000 plus a $10,500 stipend as assistant House minority leader.

He says state rules require him to be docked a full day of pay in Rosemont every time he is in session in Springfield, which last year amounted to $50,000. The regulations apply to any lawmaker with a municipal job, such as Democratic state Rep. Kelly Burke — who is also Evergreen Park mayor — and Republican state Rep. John Cabello, who is also a Rockford police officer.

Stephens said he asked Attorney General Kwame Raoul for a legal opinion on the state statute.

Stephens, mayor since 2007, said he plans to run for another four-year term this spring. He is unopposed for another two-year term in the state House this fall.

“I take that job very serious, as I do this one,” Stephens said. “I think I’ve shown since 2019 I can do this job as effectively as that one.”