The Lake County Board approved regular pay raises for those in countywide elected positions last week in a split vote across party lines.
Proponents argued the increases are relatively small and still won’t cover inflation, and instead will act as more of a gesture of the county’s support for those in key county government positions. Opponents argued the salaries are already well-above Lake County’s average income, and there is little rationale for the increases.
Board members Sandy Hart, Ann Maine, Linda Pedersen, Adam Schlick and Jessica Vealitzek voted against the change, with the rest voting in support. Mary Ross Cunningham was not in attendance during the May 12 meeting.
Board member Paras Parekh defended the proposed change adamantly during Tuesday’s meeting. The amount of money being discussed is relatively minuscule compared to the county’s budget, he argued, but would have big impacts for some of the most important positions in county government.
According to the updated policy, the countywide elected positions that will be affected by the new amendment include the county clerk, circuit court clerk, coroner and treasurer.
The regional superintendent of schools’ salary is set by the state, with the county providing a stipend if it is set lower than that of similar county-wide elected officials, the policy says. The sheriff’s salary is considered independently of the other county-wide elected officials, and is set at 80% of the state’s attorney’s salary, which is set by Illinois.
Parekh said the affected salaries will now be increased by about 3% every two years, rather than every four years. Even then, he said, inflation means those salaries will still be effectively decreasing every year, and the change only slows the bleeding.
“We want people that are highly experienced,” Parekh said. “(Paywise) they don’t even rank in the top 150 positions in the county.”
According to the 2026 Lake County employee compensation report, the annual salary for county clerk, circuit court clerk, coroner and treasurer is just over $134,000 each. A 3% increase for all four positions comes to a total of about $16,000, or roughly $4,000 per position.
Board compensation currently sits at just over $43,000, after being frozen back in May 2022. The chair’s salary is about $101,000. According to County Administrator Patrice Sutton and county documents, the amount will increase to about $44,800 and $104,000, respectively, on Dec. 1, 2026. A policy approved in April 2024 increases their pay every two years as well.
Vealitzek argued the positions already earn well-above the average income in Lake County, and she didn’t “see a rationale in terms of parity,” noting the salaries are already triple that of board salaries, not counting the chair.
Maine argued that the salaries are even above the median income for entire households in the county. According to 2023 data from nonprofit United Way, Lake County’s median household income is about $108,000.
Hart, who also voted against the change, emphasized that “no” votes did not reflect any views on the work of those in the countywide positions. Those running for office “know what the salary is,” she said, and she floated making such pay changes in early to mid-2027, “before anyone is even collecting petitions.”
Of the impacted positions, the county clerk and treasurer are coming up for election in November.
