Bartlett trustees approve pay hikes for future village board members
Bartlett trustees have approved automatic annual pay increases for future village board members to match the cost-of-living raises that nonunion employees receive.
Village President Dan Gunsteen proposed the measure, in part to avoid having the same discussion every two years.
Because board members can’t approve pay raises for themselves during their current terms, the automatic increase won’t begin until May 2027 for those elected in April 2027, and in May 2029 for those elected in April 2029.
Under the current pay scale, the village president receives $12,800 a year plus $1,000 for serving as liquor commissioner. Trustees receive $4,450 annually, and the village clerk is paid $12,290.
Trustee Adam Hopkins pointed out that the three current trustees who approved that pay scale in 2024 are still receiving the annual amount of $4,000 that preceded the change.
Bartlett officials surveyed the board compensation approaches of many of the communities around them to settle on the one they did.
Trustees said they agreed on the philosophy that compensation shouldn’t be an incentive to serve but rather something that overcomes a potential barrier to service.
“I would just say I like that there is some kind of compensation because I would never want anyone to be prohibited from serving on this board or any other commission because they’re losing money or have to have childcare,” Trustee Stephanie Gandsey said.
Gunsteen said he’s spending about 25 to 35 hours per week at village hall on top of his work obligations. The service residents receive from their elected officials is very much at a nominal fee, he added.
“To Trustee Gandsey’s point, you ask someone to be here for 26 meetings, 20 ribbon cuttings, 20 social events, 30 different items throughout the year ― do they need to get daycare for younger kids?”
Hopkins agreed that finances shouldn’t be the reason someone otherwise inclined to serve doesn’t.
“None of us do this for the money,” Trustee Renee Suwanski said.
“I’ve invested more than this money back into the community,” Trustee Joe LaPorte added.
epeterson@dailyherald.com