Pay raises approved for Wauconda's police chief, deputy chief
Wauconda Police Chief David Wermes and Deputy Chief Mike Botterman will receive pay raises starting this week.
Wermes' salary will increase 5 percent to $128,625, the village board decided Tuesday. Botterman's salary will increase 3.5 percent to $121,095.
Wermes was hired as police chief in December 2015. He has a four-year contract that coincides with the mayoral election cycle.
Botterman joined the police department in 1995 and was promoted to deputy chief in April 2016. His contract is indefinite.
Botterman praised Wermes for creating "an awesome atmosphere in which to learn and work."
"I believe the staff is enjoying the direction the department is heading," he said. "There is a different feel here, a positive feeling."
The board approved some other pay bumps Tuesday, too.
Attorney Rudy Magna, who has represented the village since 1993, will see his rate increase 2 percent to $226.44 per hour.
Additionally, the board approved 2.5 percent pay increases for all village employees not covered by labor unions.
They include: Public Works Director Brad Fink; Building, Planning and Zoning Director Chris Miller; the police department's community service officers; and other municipal employees.
The raises were among the final decisions made during the Frank Bart mayoral administration. Minutes after the village board approved the increases, newly elected Mayor Lincoln Knight took the oath of office, along with three trustees.
The new board's first duties Tuesday were to approve Knight's recommendations for various village staff positions.
Wermes, Fink and Miller were among the employees whose contracts were extended by board vote. Village Administrator Doug Maxeiner kept his job, too, among others.
"I appreciate the vote of confidence and look forward to pursuing the goals and objectives of the new mayor and board," said Maxeiner, the village's top administrator since 2013.
Knight said shortly after the April election that he didn't intend to shake up the village staff.