Rolling Meadows gives new city manager a contract
A little more than year into his tenure as an at-will employee, Rolling Meadows City Manager has inked his first employment agreement that will keep him overseeing day-to-day operations at city hall through January 2027.
The city council unanimously voted Tuesday night to approve the 10-page contract with Sabo, who began duties in the top administrative post Jan. 4, 2022. Sabo had been working under terms of a simple offer letter, but it came with the possibility of a formal long-term employment agreement.
The council's vote Tuesday came about a month after they awarded the new manager a 6% bonus for completing and surpassing 30 key performance goals.
Sabo, who is starting the contract with a $180,100 annual salary, is eligible for bonus of up to $25,000 every year if he completes goals set by the council during his annual review. Sabo will also get the same salary increase as that of non-unionized city employees, under terms of the agreement.
The pact also awards Sabo 25 vacation days a year, a car allowance of $500 per month, and $5,000 for professional development meetings and conference expenses.
Though the contract ends Feb. 1, 2027, "nothing in this agreement shall prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with the rights of the city council to terminate the services of the manager at any time, by majority vote of the members of the council," the document states.
It lays out 10 ways the manager can be terminated for cause, including "breach of the manager's duty of loyalty to the city," and "any act of dishonesty, fraud, gross incompetence, misconduct or gross misrepresentation."
If he isn't terminated for cause, the manager would be eligible for severance: eight weeks of salary if he's removed in the first year of the agreement, 12 weeks in the second year, 16 weeks in the third year and 20 weeks in the fourth year.