There is one thorny issue that politicians everywhere shun during an election year: voting on their own pay.
It is no different in McHenry County, where members of the County Board have appeared reluctant to begin paying themselves annual salaries in place of the current per diem rate of $75 plus 26 cents a mile for each meeting they attend.
That is especially true this year, as one-third of the county’s 24 board members are up for re-election in November.
But on Tuesday night, a County Board majority threw caution to the wind and voted 15-9 to pass sweeping modifications in the way board members will be paid, as well as approving higher salaries for four of the county’s top officeholders.
County Board member Wayne Kurzeja of Barrington Hills said he was voting for a salaried board to move county government into the 21st Century.
“Our constituents want a conservative government, but not an antiquated one,” Kurzeja said.
However, board member William Carroll Jr. of Woodstock, who voted against going to salaries, said, “I can’t see any reason for fixing something just because the wheels squeak. There were a lot of smoke screens, saying we would save money by going to salaries.”
The board’s action came on the heels of charges by some taxpayer groups that the changes amounted to little more than a backdoor pay raise, opening the way to letting members become professional politicians.
Proponents pointed out that the new pay schedule voted on Tuesday night will apply to the next County Board, which will be seated after the election.
“It has just gotten to the point where the County Board wanted to act on this one way or the other,” said Donna Schaefer, a board member from McHenry, who dismissed the notion espoused by some critics that paying board members salaries opens the door to full-time politicians.
“It couldn’t be put off anymore, so it was best to just have a vote,” Schaefer said.
Under the measure approved Tuesday night, board members will begin drawing $8,000 salaries next year instead of collecting stipends for each meeting they attend. After four years, the salaries will rise to $8,775.
Under the current system, board members with good attendance earn about $7,500 a year.
“It makes sense,” said Mike Brown, a board member from Crystal Lake who favors a salary system of compensation. “Paying us on a per diem basis is too outdated and doesn’t accurately reflect the amount of time it takes for us to do these jobs.”
Next year’s salaries for the offices of auditor, coroner, circuit clerk and recorder were also set in accordance with a timetable spelled out under state law.
The pay for the auditor will increase to $49,306 in 2000 from $45,000 next year. During the same period, the salary for the three other offices will increase to $67,933 from $62,000.
Bob Anderson, who heads the group Concerned Taxpayers for Integrity in Government, said he fears the move to salaries will drive a wedge between constituents and the County Board.
Anderson charged that board members spent little time considering the implications before restructuring their pay.
“All they wanted to do was get their hands on the salaries,” Anderson said. “It’s a crying shame.”
Anderson said that under the measure adopted Tuesday, at least half of the board members will receive raises of at least $500 next year.
“They should have just called it for what it was, a raise,” Anderson said. “In 10 years, people of the county will be shocked to see how much we are paying these people.”
Those sentiments are shared by a handful of board members who said they wanted to preserve the per diem compensation system because it provides an important financial incentive for board members to attend meetings regularly.
Under the new system, board members will be paid regardless of whether they attend meetings.
“It doesn’t seem right,” said William Russell, a board member from Crystal Lake. “It stands to hurt the deliberative nature of this body, because there’s no incentive for people to show up for any meetings.”
The issue of determining the best way to compensate board members has simmered quietly for years, because most members will say only in private that they are not getting a fair return on the time they commit.
The disgruntled members pointed to their higher-paid peers in Lake and DuPage Counties, where board members draw annual salaries of about $27,000. In Kane and Will Counties, board members receive $7,800 and $13,000 a year, respectively.
The issue of money came to a head three weeks ago when Bill Barron, county administrator, released the findings of a nine-month compensation analysis that found board members were among the lowest-paid in the 102 counties in the state althought they served in one of the 16 most populated counties.
The analysis recommended that board members annual pay be $7,500 to $9,875, which would bring them up to the pay scale of their counterparts in counties of similar size.
Members also boosted the annual pay of the chairman of the County Board, an appointed position currently occupied by Dianne Klemm, who draws an annual salary of $30.000. Under Tuesday’s action, the chairman’s pay will increase by $3,500 in 1997. In the year 2000, the salary will increase to $36,500.
