Hanover Park officials turn down their own raise

Hanover Park's elected officials are paid a fraction of what their counterparts make in similar communities - and that's just fine with a majority of the board.

Citing reasons including the economy and a philosophy that one shouldn't financially gain from public service, the board opted not to increase its members compensation.

The proposed ordinance, which failed by a 4-3 decision earlier this month, would have raised the village president's annual pay from $6,000 to $10,500 and the six trustees' pay from $2,400 to $6,000.

"Times are tough in Hanover Park," Trustee Lori Kaiser said, pointing out that she didn't receive any salary for her six years of service on the park district board. "If people want to get involved in public service, there should be no dollars attached to it."

Leading the finance committee's analysis and recommendation to increase the pay for elected officials was Trustee Bill Cannon, who pointed out that the economy would have a chance to rebound before the change went into effect in May 2013.

Village staff surveyed 17 municipalities with a population between 30,000 and 45,000 residents and found the annual median pay to be $10,784 for the mayor and $4,290 for trustees - well above Hanover Park's pay. It's been 11 years since the village increased compensation for elected officials.

"It's a touchy subject because it looks like it's self serving," Cannon said. "However, the spirit of this is to encourage other people to run for office in the future. We should move in a direction where we encourage those people to participate in the governing and policy setting of Hanover Park."

Cannon argued that pay scales for village staff are set by looking at similar communities' average pay. The method should be no different for elected officials, he said.

Trustee Toni Carter voted for the bump in pay even though her term is up next year and she doesn't intend to seek re-election. She wanted the effective date moved up to 2011 so that anyone elected that year would see the same pay for their entire four-year term.

Faced with a 3-3 tie, Mayor Rod Craig cast the deciding vote against the increase.