Buffalo Grove board rewards village manager with four-year extension
Four more years is a phrase you usually hear in connection with a presidential term, but for Buffalo Grove's elected leaders this week, it was a call to action regarding longtime Village Manager Dane Bragg.
Trustees on Monday approved a new, four-year contract extension with Bragg that will see his current base salary of $292,097 boosted by 3% a year, topping out at more than $325,000.
The village manager since 2010, Bragg oversees a $126 million annual budget and a workforce of 214 full-time and 38 part-time employees.
Trustees praised his work, including new plans to redevelop the moribund Town Center shopping center as a $150 million mixed-use project with apartments, a grocery store, entertainment venues, restaurants, and retail and office space.
"As an elected official, one of the biggest complaints I have heard over the years was about the tired old Town Center," Trustee Joanne Johnson said. "Well, that place does not exist anymore. Under Mr. Bragg's guidance we will now have a vibrant mixed-use development that will bring experiential entertainment, including new restaurants, and upscale housing. This took an incredible amount of determination and finesse on the part of Mr. Bragg and staff to complete."
Other success, she said, include the village's infrastructure modernization plan and the planned construction of a new public works facility.
Trustee David Weidenfeld cited Bragg's work leading the village through the pandemic.
"This community, like every other community, went through COVID and every other disastrous thing imaginable, and yet somehow we have a AAA bond rating, our net tax levy has not increased in four years, staff retires, as is the norm, (and) we replace them with wonderfully competent people who slide right into those roles and do wonderful work, and the person in charge of all of that is Mr. Bragg," he said.
Bragg thanked the board, and deflected some of the accolades on to his staff.
"I owe it all to my entire team, because I cannot accomplish these things without the great people whom I work with every day," he said.
The contract extension also calls for the village to deposit an amount equal to 5% of the base salary into a retirement plan at Bragg's direction and gives him a $500 monthly vehicle allowance. If Bragg resigns during the contract, he is prohibited for one year from taking a similar position within 25 miles of Buffalo Grove.