Will County debates pay hikes for elected officials

The Will County Board is weighing whether to hike pay for elected officials, something it has not done for nearly 20 years and appears reluctant to do now.

The last time the County Board approved a pay hike for any elected Will County official was in 2005, when it approved a series of four annual raises that put board member salaries at $23,900 by 2009. That’s where they stand today.

In 2004, the board approved a series of four annual raises for countywide officials that put their salaries at $93,116 by 2007. That also is the pay today for county executive, circuit clerk, treasurer, auditor, coroner and recorder of deeds.

The board met Tuesday to discuss the matter and showed mixed inclinations.

The discussion was tentative with no dollar amounts proposed.

Several board members said they would consider raises for countywide officials, but some said they would first have to find cuts elsewhere in the county budget.

Few seemed inclined to raise their own pay.

“Right now, this is a public servant’s job, and I think we’re fairly compensated,” said board Member Jim Richmond, R-Mokena.

The closest anyone came to putting a dollar amount on pay hikes was when board member Jacqueline Traynere, D-Bolingbrook, said that if County Board pay was adjusted up with the Consumer Price Index it would be $36,000 today.

Traynere also suggested the discussion on Monday was “an exercise” not likely to lead to a vote and left the meeting early on.

Board Chairwoman Judy Ogalla, R-Monee, called the discussion “a start” but said there would have to be a special County Board meeting by June 5 to get anything done.

June 5 is a deadline because state law bars elected officials from raising their own pay while in office. Any pay hike would apply to whoever wins in the Nov. 5 election when voters will choose six county board members along with a county executive, coroner, circuit clerk, auditor and recorder of deeds.

Incumbents not up for election would not get a pay increase.

The state’s attorney’s job also is on the ballot, but pay for county state’s attorneys is set separately by state law.

Recorder of Deeds Karen Stukel made a case for a pay raise to the County Board.

“I’m making exactly what I made when I came in in 2008,” Stukel said.

Stukel said she wasn’t complaining.

“This is what I chose to do,” she said. But, she added, “Would I like to see some increase in compensation after 16 years? Yes I would.”