Time for sacrifice on the county board

The company is struggling financially. So it tells employees they are going to have to make sacrifices for the good of the company in the form of pay cuts and trims in benefits.

This has happened all over the country. But wouldn't it be nice if you, as one of those employees, could say, whoa, wait a minute. Let's debate this, boss, before following through. Let's debate it for, well, a year or so.

Chances are that wouldn't go over very well, unless you are a member of the DuPage County board.

While board members have known for well over a year that the county financial situation was nearing crisis proportions and have cut spending elsewhere, including $1 million in programs that help DuPage County's neediest people, they continue to debate whether they should make a financial sacrifice of their own.

We do give board members and their chairman credit for at least putting cuts in their salaries and in a generous pension plan on the table. As opposed to state lawmakers and the governor, who had the gall to raise their pay during an embarrassingly dismal legislative session.

But it's time for the county board and chairman to stop suggesting it's time to cut pay and perks and follow through with the sacrifice. It's not as if even a slight reduction in pay would hammer them financially.

Ten years, ago, board members were making $27,717 annually. Today that yearly salary is $48,620, which will go up to $53,645 by 2010. On top of this, they get committee leadership bonuses of up to $3,000. Today, the pay for the board chairman is $110,150. It will be a $121,540 annual check by 2010.

Keep in mind, too, that most county board members, and the chairman, earn money outside their government salaries. Good money, in many cases. Almost half the 18 county board meetings are lawyers, where the mean annual salary is $113,660.

We understand state law prohibits changing elected leaders' pay during their current terms. But that shouldn't stop board members and their chairman from, at the minimum, voluntarily agreeing not to accept pay hikes and instead funneling that money into, say, the human services budget, which is down $1 million.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in June 2006 "average hourly earnings were lower for private industry workers ($18.56) than for state and local government workers ($23.99)".

DuPage County board members have certainly helped pump up the public sector pay advantage with generous salaries. Not to mention a nice pension plan that can pay elected officials far more in retirement income than is allotted to regular county employees who've been in their jobs for the same amount of time.

It's time to give some of that back, in the name of financial sacrifice.