DuPage County OKs raises for board members, other elected officials

A dozen DuPage County Board members and several countywide officials will get salary increases after the fall election, including a 35% pay hike for the board chairman.

The raises were approved Tuesday when the county board set the pay for the next four years for the sheriff, treasurer, county clerk, county board chairman and 12 county board members.

All the positions are up for election in November. The new salaries will take effect on Dec. 1, when the county’s 2027 fiscal year begins.

State law requires the salaries of county board members and countywide elected officials to be established at least 180 days before the beginning of their terms.

Initially, it was proposed that the annual salary for the county board chairman would increase from $136,959 to $154,390 — an amount similar to salaries proposed for the county clerk and treasurer.

However, county board member Sam Tornatore suggested during a committee meeting before the final vote that the board chairman should be paid $185,000 a year — a 35% increase.

“It has become a full-time job,” Tornatore said of the board chairman position, noting that it’s the countywide elected official people call first when there’s a crisis. “If something goes wrong here, the first person who is going to get called is the chair.”

Tornatore argued the county board chairman has been “woefully underpaid for years” and that the increase would bring the salary for the position closer in line with department heads.

Ultimately, the board agreed to increase the salary to $185,000 for fiscal 2027. The board chairman will then be paid $190,550 for fiscal 2028, $194,361 for fiscal 2029, and $198,248 for fiscal 2030.

Under the new salary schedule, the annual salaries for the county clerk and treasurer will increase from $151,363 to $154,390 for fiscal 2027.

Those positions will see a 3% increase for fiscal 2028 and 2% increases for fiscal 2029 and 2030, when salaries will be $165,446.

Currently, the 18 county members are each paid $52,102 a year. They are also eligible to receive health, vision and dental insurance.

As part of a salary schedule approved two years ago, the pay for six of the county board members will increase to $53,144 in December.

The new salary schedule approved on Tuesday brings the rest of the county board in line with the pay increase.

Meanwhile, the salaries for those board members will increase to $54,738 for fiscal 2028, $58,500 for fiscal 2029 and $62,000 for fiscal 2030.

DuPage County Board members already make more than their counterparts in Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, where salaries range from $21,000 in McHenry County to $43,018 in Lake County, according to a board memo.

Four board members — Cindy Cronin Cahill, Kari Galassi, Lynn LaPlante and Melissa Martinez — voted against the raises. Some of them said they believe the position is a public service and is already well compensated.

"I personally do not believe that I should be voting on an increase for my salary or for the salary of this position," Cronin Cahill said. "It's not a career track position. It is a time when people can come from the community to serve on the county board."

In addition, the board set the sheriff’s annual salary at $175,461 for the next four years. Currently, the sheriff is paid $174,891.

Also on Tuesday, the board agreed to decrease the amount DuPage contributes to the annual salary for the regional superintendent of schools.

The state pays the majority of the regional superintendent’s salary, which is currently $171,111.

But the county’s contribution will be reduced from $33,911 to $17,190 for fiscal 2027. Officials said the decrease will bring the regional superintendent's salary more in line with other countywide elected officials.

The salaries for other elected officials, including the recorder, auditor, coroner, circuit court clerk and state’s attorney, were set before the 2024 election. They will be up for review again in 2028.