More on pay raises

January 16th, 2009 at 05:26pm Wally Haas

Machesney Park Village President Linda Vaughn sent me this e-mail in response to today’s column:

I read with interest your editorial on government officials’ pay.  You mentioned some of the smaller municipalities and gave them credit for reducing or maintaining elected officials’ pay.  It would be nice to see the paper give credit to the Village of Machesney Park for our consistent approach at holding the line on elected officials’ pay.

Machesney Park is slightly larger in population than Loves Park. Yet my salary is $20,000 less than that of the Loves Park Mayor. (Beginning May 1, I will make less than the Loves Park Clerk and Treasurer.)  The Machesney Park Clerk’s salary is also roughly $20,000 less than that of Loves Park’s clerk.  The Machesney Park Treasurer’s salary is $4,500 per year.  Trustees receive $7,800 per year, an amount that has been constant for the past eight years.  The Mayor and Clerk received a minimal pay increase last year and the Treasurer and Trustees received no increase.  In fact, salaries for the Mayor and Clerk are tied to the CPI by Village ordinance, which, this year, will most likely compute to a decrease in pay. Based on figures from Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2008, if I was to receive a raise today it would be $64 per year or $5.30 per month.

On a related note, the method of government that Machesney Park uses has helped the Village remain less affected than others by the downturn in the economy.  Through outsourcing and contracting (such as police services, snow and ice control, garbage) the Village does not carry the burden of benefits, pensions, and other related costs that most cities have.  Machesney Park has only 12 full-time employees for a community of nearly 24,000 people.  All this in a Village that does not levy a property tax.  While the Village has consistently taken a conservative approach to budgeting, it will not be necessary to eliminate personnel or extensive budget cuts with the budget we are preparing for FY 2009-2010.  We have been a model for other communities in Illinois in the way we do business, and have made presentations at state conferences on contracting and outsourcing.  Residents living in Machesney Park are getting more for their tax dollars than the majority of people living in Winnebago County,

Thanks for your work in pointing out elected officials salaries.  In future articles I ask that you please point out the communities that have in past years, and continue to, operate an affordable government for residents by keeping costs down.

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