State agency wants more information on how DuPage County Board approved raises

The Illinois Attorney General’s public access counselor is looking into allegations that the DuPage County Board violated the Open Meetings Act when it approved pay raises for elected officials in April.

DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek filed a request for review of the board’s April 28 vote setting salaries for officials taking office after the November election.

In a June 26 letter to the public access counselor, Kaczmarek raised questions about the legality of the vote, arguing the board did not provide enough notice to the public of the pending vote.

She also argued the board violated the state’s Open Meetings Act when it approved a change, proposed on the board floor, that increased the originally suggested salary for the county board chairman from $154,390 in the upcoming fiscal year to $185,000. Under the amended salary, the chair’s pay will top $198,000 in the 2030 fiscal year.

In a letter dated July 2, the public access counselor advised DuPage County Board Chair Deborah Conroy that a further review of Kaczmarek’s complaint is warranted.

The letter asks Conroy to confirm if the county participates in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and explain if the definition of “employee” in the state’s pension code applies to county elected officials. It also asks the county to address whether the board “improperly approved a materially different compensation ordinance” at the April meeting.

The county has seven business days from the date of the letter to respond to the query.

In a written statement, Conroy said the state’s attorney will provide a “detailed response” to the public access counselor by the July 14 deadline.

“We will answer the PAC’s questions and defend the county,” Paul Darrah, a spokesman for the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office, said in an email.

The office declined further comment.

“There’s been a lot of noise about the way raises were done, and people say, ‘Well, there should be a law against that,’” Kaczmarek said Tuesday. “Guess what, there is.”

In her June 26 letter, Kaczmarek argued the county board violated the state’s open meetings rules requiring six days' notice before approving a compensation package totaling at least $150,000 for an employee participating in the IMRF.

While elected officials are not typically considered “employees,” Kaczmarek pointed to the state’s pension code, which includes elected officials in its definition of employee.

Kaczmarek also argued the county board violated open meetings rules when it approved a salary for the county board chairman that was higher than what was included in the agenda packet that was posted on April 24.

The board packet included a resolution that would have set the county board chairman’s salary at $154,390 for fiscal year 2027. Annual increases would bring the salary to $165,446 by fiscal year 2030.

However, the county board ultimately decided to set the board chairman’s salary at $185,000 for fiscal year 2027. With annual increases, the salary would climb to $198,248 by fiscal year 2030.

The change was first proposed during a finance committee meeting on the same day as the April 28 board vote.

State law requires county boards to set salaries for themselves and other countywide officials 180 days before an election.

Four county board members — Democrats Lynn LaPlante and Melissa Martinez, along with Republicans Cindy Cronin Cahill and Kari Galassi — voted against the pay raises.

LaPlante, who did not speak up at the April 28 meeting, was later criticized by fellow board members for posting her thoughts about the increases on Substack.

“I think it’s important to look into these raises to make sure that due process was followed,” LaPlante said Tuesday during a phone interview. “I’m always supportive of more transparency. And if there’s nothing wrong here, then no one should have an issue with it being looked into.”

She described some of the pay increases as “tone deaf,” noting that many residents in DuPage County are financially struggling.

However, LaPlante said the salaries for county board members, which were set at $53,144 for fiscal year 2027 and climb annually and reach $62,000 by 2030, reflected fair cost-of-living adjustments.