Raises coming for Mount Prospect mayor, trustees in 2029

Mount Prospect village board members voted unanimously this week to give future mayors and trustees a boost in compensation.

Pay for those elected offices has remained the same since 2001.

The raises will go into effect May 1, 2029, upon the swearing in of board members elected in the April 2029 election. After that, the compensation will be adjusted annually, based on the Consumer Price Index as of Dec. 31 of the previous year.

Mayor Paul Hoefert currently receives $8,500 annually for serving as both mayor and liquor commissioner. In 2029, the compensation for mayor and liquor commissioner combined will rise to $16,000.

Trustee pay will increase from the current $2,750 a year to $6,000 a year in 2029.

Tying the annual increase to the CPI as of Dec. 31 came at the suggestion of Trustee William Grossi.

“The CPI is computed on a monthly basis, and that will lead to confusion in the future,” he said. “If we set it at the end of the prior year, it’ll automatically adjust when that yearly number comes out.”

The effective year is 2029, because trustees cannot vote for their own salaries, Grossi said. The annual adjustment eliminates the board having to vote on it again, he added.

“This is the hardest issue a trustee can, in my mind, make a decision on,” Grossi said, “because it’s, like, unsavory to say, ‘Oh, gee, I think I need more money.’ We don’t do it for the money.”

Hoefert echoed those remarks.

“But I think it does make sense after all these years to probably make these increases and then to tie it to the CPI so that we don’t have to do this into the future,” he said.

The board discussed the issue at a prior meeting, during which staff presented data on what elected officials receive in other communities.

“We found that there was a wide range of salaries,” Mount Prospect Human Resources Director Patti Anderson told the board at Tuesday’s meeting.

szalusky@dailyherald.com